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Man Gets 6 Years for Software Piracy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pirate-gets-his-due dept.

smooth wombat writes "In what prosecutors are calling 'the ultimate case', a Florida man has been sentenced to six years in prison for selling illegal copies of computer programs. From the article: 'Danny Ferrer, of Lakeland, Fla., pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and copyright infringement charges after an FBI investigation of his Web site, BuysUSA.com. Ferrer also was ordered to pay more than $4.1 million in restitution to software makers Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk, and Macromedia Inc.' The judge ordered that items he bought with the money, including airplanes, a Lamborghini and other cars, be sold off to pay for the restitution."

4 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. easy way out by JackBuckley · · Score: 5, Funny

    He should've just wiped his hard drive, and presto! no evidence. Oh, wait...

    1. Re:easy way out by whois_drek · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, I'm going to invent a formula for getting modded higher. It'll be something along the lines of:

      1. Read popular story
      2. Read new story
      3. Make some humorously ironic comment on the current story based on newly-gained group knowledge from previous story.
      4. Add optional Soviet Russia joke, Overlord welcome, or "Oh, wait..." sentence fragment at end.
      5. Profit!!!

      So that formula is my invention. Please sign the following NDA with prior-invention clause below...

  2. The worst part of his dastardly deed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He was charging suckers for this pirate software and not even providing the courtesy of an nfo.

    Good riddance.

  3. Now there's one business model... by MarkusQ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now there's one business model that certainly could have benefited from picking FOSS.

    Hey, here's an idea: maybe we should push this as counter-FUD:

    Man sentenced to six years for picking proprietary software
    Intrinsic risks of "poison pill" licenses overlooked by many

    It's just a thought.

    --MarkusQ