Inside ‘Operation Pacifier’ and the FBI’s Global Computer Hacking

How far is the government willing to go to investigate internet crimes? As part of “Operation Pacifier,” the FBI seized a website called Play-pen and launched a computer hacking campaign pursuant to which it distributed at least one million illicit pictures and videos. Colin Fieman, who helped defend several Pacifier cases, offers an overview of the litigation and the kind of sophisticated malware and hacking operations defense lawyers can expect to see with increasing frequency.