Varpness.com

Associated Press – New York, New York

Last year over 30 homes were raided and 23 individuals arrested after the FBI determined that these individules had allegedly created over 10,000 links to videos of 80s pop icon Rick Astley. The raids took place between 5:00 PM and 4:00 AM, sometimes individuals being removed from their homes in front of their children.

A popular activity in the internet is to create a link on a webpage or forum, stating that the link leads to one place, but in actuality the link leads to a video of Rick Astley singing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” This act is called “Rick Rolling,” and up until late last year, it was perfectly legal. However, the activity has become such an obsession with some people, it has started to hurt the U.S. economy.

During the trial for Jim Hakashu in late February, Judge Gregory Phelps stated that the combined time loss from work, internet resources , and other miscellaneous costs have a combined negative effect of over $34 billion dollars lost in the U.S. alone. The judge went on to say that, “individuals who create Ricky Rollers for the sole purpose of tricking them into watching something that they had no desire to watch are beyond rude, they are criminal.”

The trials for Hakashu and other arrested individuals are still pending outcome, but one thing is for sure, internet shenanigans will never be the same again.