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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 $4.1 million in restitution to software makers Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk, and Macromedia Inc.' The judge ordered that items he bought with the money, including airplanes, a Lamborghini and other cars, be sold off to pay for the restitution."
I can understand the steep financial penalty, but 6 years seems awfully harsh for a crime where no one was physically harmed.
Why couldn't he just operate his business outside the country? If he was making millions, he could have easily ran his business from any corner of the planet.
If i wanted to hear bullshit, i'd go to church.
Looks like he should of HELD UP a BANK instead, and gotten off with 5-10, and better status in the joint -- Hey, buddy, what you in for? Uh, copyright infraction. Why you little (bang!, pow!, #($*%$Y&*#)
I fail to see how 6yrs and $4.1Mill in fines to Adobe, Macromedia, and Autodesk serves the public trust. Yes, he was doing a disservice to corporations, however you don't know how many legitimate users were spawned from his acts. I know, I know, its not about possibilities, only certainties when it comes to the law, right?
/disgusted with the whole system
6 yrs for Copyright Infringement? I imagine if you do a comparison of what other crimes will get you six years or less, you'd be baffled at this judgement (I'm lazy, you look it up). Especially when this is more of a CIVIL issue rather than criminal, IMO. Sorry, but corporations DO NOT EQUATE AS PEOPLE when it comes to the law( you can thank Congress 70-some years ago for making that mistake). The sum of the parts does not equal one part. Corporations are made of people, and do not thus constitute a person itself as a whole.
Distrubuting Corp. A's product is denying THEM and ONLY THEM possible income. Yes you could argue you are also denying the Gov't possible tax revenue, but that would lead me to argue about current tax spending methodology and how big a cluster-fark that is. Do you really want to go that route???
As for $4.1Mill to the Corp's. I don't really have a problem with that as they seem to be taking personal assetts, made from his Infringement activities. If that 4.1M is met with all his personal assetts, even if its a majority of it, then the 6 yrs is the debt he must pay to the public and government, for his disservice to it. That is what I have a problem with.
This whole case is about money, possible deprivation of money, and our technological freedom at present.
So, 6 yrs at what, a cost of $20-30+K per year to incarcerate him??? $120-150+k cost to the government to lock someone who broke Copyright Infringement Law, a CORPORATE NO NO????????
I offer this alternative to this sentence of 6 years:
- Ban him from Technology for 5 years
- Ban him from owning or serving on Board or as Executive through Supervisor of Company FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Make him work in a homeless shelter, a LIVE-IN homeless shelter at an undisclosed location, for 5 years
- Refuse Income. He can't earn money as all income is forfeited to the Gov't, and/or Corp's for fines
- He is restricted to his job, and nothing else.
- Daily Parole Officer call ins, from the shelter, and random police checkins
----OR Low-Jack GPS implant for 5 years, preferrably somewhere where self-surgery WOULD KILL HIM
- Give him a library card, with no PC access, and a newspaper
- If after 5 years, he has fullfilled this sentence, give him $500 and relocate him to the farthest domestic location (if in U.S.) away from where he was originally living, and tell him good luck with the rest of your life.
THAT, would be more of a punishment then sending him to the Gray-bar hotel with hot meals, hot water, and a roof over the head.
I wonder just what this guy was smoking when he did this. Did he honestly believe he could hide behind this UA?
7a: You are not permitted to duplicate or illegally distribute any product purchased from Buysusa. You agree to abide by the End User License Agreement contained within those products. You assume full responsibility for complying with all copyright laws. All products offered by Buysusa are fully compliant with sec. 117 of the US copyright laws. Buysusa reserves the right to refuse any customer for any reason. You understand that in order for Buysusa to make you a copy (OEM) of any software, you acknowledge that you are the legal owner of this same software, and are looking to just make a new copy (OEM) for archival (backup) purposes only. You also agree to destroy all copies of the software in the event it is ever no longer voluntarily in your possession. You understand that only the licensed owner (with a valid serial number, where applicable) of the various software found on Buysusa may use the services located here. You also acknowledge that the software you have was obtained legally and that you have the legal right to request this backup (oem) copy to be made. If you obtained your version though any other means, including any pirated versions, or if you do not already legally own the same version of the software requested, then you may not use this service. you also agree to hold Buysusa harmless for any damages that may occur for your failure to follow the U.S. Copyright and other laws as they pertain to the backup (OEM software) you are requesting. When you purchase any backup (oem) copy of software through Buysusa, you agree to assume full liability in the event your actions are deemed illegal. Buysusa does not condone software piracy and has every intention of complying with the laws pertaining to the duplication of software. By placing an order for software, you declare and warrant that you are provided all material on an "AS IS" basis, and Buysusa makes no representation or warranties of any kind. All title and intellectual property rights remain those of the respective content owner and any intellectual property protected by laws and treaties, without grant or rights to use, and not to copy or print. Any such documentation, serial number, activation services or material that is accompanying any software or document is provided by Buysusa only as documentation or to ease installation in the event your originals are lost, with no basis of value. The laws of the State of Florida will govern this agreement.
What do you think of this analogy:
Downloading pirated copies is like taking a picture of a prostitue in flagrante delicto without paying extra.
Selling pirated copies is like pimping the prostitutes, then taking away all their money (sex slavery in effect)?
Of course, if you have no intention to buy the product in the first place, then downloading warez just to check them out is more like sneaking a peek at the said prostitute engagins some other john.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
"This guy made enough he could buy sportscars, planes, the works. Even if you just look at the $4.1m restitution, that's a lot of salaries Adobe, Macromedia and Autodesk could have paid. It's easy to dismiss it as "Oh well, they're big companies, no harm, no foul." but it becomes much more of an issue when they cut the job of a guy whose health insurance got his daughter treatment for cancer."
Very well put.
A common Slashdot response to the piracy issue is "the person wouldn't have bought the legitimate copy anyway." In this case, the guy was selling copies of $649 software for $99. This is roughly comparable to the discount that allofmp3.com offers on music, and many people defend their allofmp3.com use because they cannot afford to pay $1 / track. Just like allofmp3.com, this fellow was able to sell $649 software for $99 because he did not need to worry about paying the rightsholders. Unfortunately, lots of people would disagree with you about actual harm to Adobe, et al.
I suspect that if this were a story about music piracy, the guys writing "They're big companies, no harm, no foul" would be the ones with the 5, Insightful ratings, where you'd be marked down as a troll and likely accused of astroturfing.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
http://www.polksheriff.org/cgi-bin/i080914?book=20 01020912
that appears to be him... complete with mugshot and everything.
...spike
Ewwwwww, coconut...
Lamborghini employees have families too...