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Man Gets 6 Years for Software Piracy
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."
Judging by the amount he got from this, he was not exactly small fry. Who knows what lengths he went to protecting an illicit business of that size. Certainly a sizeable chunk of change was diverted from normal streams and a fine and a slap on the wrist for him would probably not be too much discouragement for other people in similar situations who are watching his case.
Warhammer forums
Unless he has assets hidden away that the Government can't find or touch, he can say goodbye to what he has under RICO. As it is, they are selling off his assets to pay the judgement, but I'm sure anything that is left will be taken by the Government. We are not talking about someone who lived in his Mom's basement and traded software on the P2P networks -- we are talking someone who made enough to get Ferraris and boats and who knows what else.
Beware of Sleestak
You understand that once the seal is broken on software products we will not take them back and No refund will be issued, as we have no guarantee that it or they have been removed from your computer. We will however promptly exchange defective products. This is the same policy that all software vendors have in common. You cannot buy software at a retail store and then expect a refund once you have opened it and installed it on your computer. This would be considered software piracy on your part. Buysusa does not condone software piracy and has every intention of complying with the laws pertaining to the duplication of software. So please do not ask us to break the law. All sales are final with the exception of damaged or defective goods.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050331090113/bannedd
Indeed you did! With hyperbole and rhetoric, no less! Congratulations. Mind pointing out which prison have prisoners sipping champaigne for lunch? And if you can show one, can you show that it is the norm?
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
Well, allofmp3.com is not breaking any law. They are compliant with all US laws and all Russian laws.
Really? All US laws? You need to research that a bit because you don't have the facts, yet make very bold statements.
Just because they claim they are legal in the US (and no one agrees) doesn't mean it is legal. As a matter of fact, it is clearly infringement in virtually everyone's eyes except your, allofmp3.com, and their customers who don't really care. It is even threatening Russia's acceptance into the WTO. It is a simple case of Russia saying "Fuck America, we want the tax dollars this generates".
This isn't P2P sharing, this is selling something they don't own.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!