Slashdot Mirror
Feds Convict Warez Dealer
XaviorPenguin writes "News.com.com.com has a story that says the DoJ has '...landed its first conviction against an American defendant trapped via Operation Fastlink, a multinational law enforcement effort undertaken against online software piracy. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa said that Jathan Desir, 26, of Iowa City, has pleaded guilty to charges related to his role in a criminal enterprise that distributed pirated software, games, movies and music over the Internet.' Desir is the first conviction that Operation Fastlink has done. He will possibly serve up to 15 years in prison when his sentencing is in March 18, 2005. Previous Slashdot articles are included here(1), here(2), and most recently here(3)."
If they were smart, they'd come for anyone who quotes Niemoller first...
I think it's scary that you can get 15 years in prison for doing something that is generally accepted by the society!
If you would do a vote whether it should be legal to download copyrighted material or not, I'm quite sure that people would like it to, at least here in Sweden.
The state exists to represent its people, not to disallow them doing things which they themselves think are fair!
This is a political crime. Sharing software is free speech. End of story.
I looked over his bookshelf and found a surprising number of really high-quality texts on C++, which he told me he'd found laying around MacLean Hall or which someone was throwing away, or whatever.
He probably stole those, too.