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Game Pirate Sentenced To Jail Time
A man charged in a case separate from the much-publicized anti-modder raids last month has been sentenced to ninety days in prison, another nine months of work furlough, and five years of probation. "Police seized over 1,000 pirated game discs during the raid on Brown's home, along with 'numerous' mod chips. Ric Hirsch, Vice-President of Intellectual Property Enforcement at the ESA, said, 'Sentences that include jail time send a clear message that violating intellectual property rights is a serious crime with significant consequences and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'"
I'm sure he'll get put in white-collar prison and not get mixed in with the gangbanging general population. He won't be taking the place of some murderer, but I do get your point about law enforcement and correction institutions' resources probably better served going after crimes with non-corporate victims.
That said, I sort of wished they threw more of the book at this guy for pirating this stuff. Mod chips have a legitimate use by enabling the owner of hardware to use it in the way they see fit. The homebrew community and those who enjoy the protection that backups provide should hold a zero-tolerance policy to those who would use those tools to enjoy materials for which they didn't pay.
My guess is that if the homebrew/backup communities weren't all driven underground thanks to the DMCA and corps with large legal budgets, they'd agree.
More Twoson than Cupertino
A ton of policemen who could've done something useful (like finding some people who do actually rob and steal, in the actual sense of the law) for society were kept busy to stick a guy in the can who doesn't affect me or 99% of the population in the slightest.
And for what? 90 days of jail. Whoo boy. He must be a really tough criminal! I dunno about your country, but 90 days is about what you get when you drive with the subway and refuse to pay the fine. For the third time. After being tried and told that paying the fee of 60 bucks is PROBABLY more interesting for you.
In other words, the damage this guy did must've been somewhere around 60 bucks. At least we now have found a reliable value for IP.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
For what it's worth, the police involved were doing their jobs and doing them correctly and efficiently. Sure, you can disagree whether or not IP infringement (in whatever form) should or should not be a crime, but as of right now it is one. A police officer, presented with a crime in plain sight, cannot (and, I would dare to argue, should not) ignore it because they disagree over whether or not it should be a crime.
Their job is to uphold the law. They did so. There is nothing wrong with that.
If you're angry, then I seriously suggest that you write your Representative(s) and Senators.
Misery loves company. Online misery loves unsuspecting random strangers.
If you're going to pirate, don't do it for profit. I can't support piracy for profit, sorry.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
The comments (so far) on this story are unbelievable. If you don't want to buy the game, then don't buy it. If you don't want to pay for the game but you steal it to play it anyway (or sell/distribute it illegally), then suck up the consequences.
Real, actual, non-fictional people's salaries are based on the fact that if people play these games (or music, or movies) then they will pay for them. If you don't like the way the market works due to levels of compensation, etc. then feel free to get your media from those that offer it freely or at a rate you agree with and who base their economic plans on that fact.
However if it's a commercial product and you steal it, then go to jail and shut up. You broke the law. Quit whining, quit the straw man style "rapists and murderers" blathering and learn something for a change. If you advocate open source and freely available media, quit giving our community a black eye by encouraging theft and cheering on pirates. If the new media model is going to work, it will work by being a better model, not by undermining the current system we have. Undermining rather than supplanting only encourages harsher laws and more intense DRM which will make the transition harder to accomplish in the end. Like I said, unbelievable.
I think it should be dependent on the severity of the crime. A CEO who commits massive fraud that results in the loss of thousands of jobs has committed a serious crime and has adversely affected the lives of thousands of people. Should he really be allowed to serve his time under "house arrest" in his opulent mansion? How is that justice?
I'm not saying that these types of crimes are best punished by putting these people in with violent criminals, but they should definitely serve time in a real prison. Separate the violent criminals from the non-violent criminals for safety's sake, but other than that the accommodations should be similar across the board.
that because you don't make a living from IP. for some people, their IP is their salary, their savings and their pension. Now imagine having that stolen from you. still don't care?
... give me a break. I'd rather be funding the police to track down bigger fish than that.
I make a living from IP, and no I still don't care.
The average brute who beats his wife and kids probably won't end up in jail for the first several incidents.
Your average petty thug mugger who confronts people and takes their wallet and watch at knife or gunpoint rarely ends up in jail for more than a few hours, no matter how often they get caught. Despite the threat of violence, the theft of real property, and the substantial emotional distress they cause their victims.
Your average retail convenience stores are shoplifted from on a daily basis. Real goods, that cost real money, being stolen for real. Every day. When the pricks get caught, how many of THEM end up in jail for more than a few hours? Practically none.
So why should a guy who makes copies in a nonviolent way, that don't take anything real away from me, and potentially don't usually even mean a lost sale -- what exactly has he done that he should he go to jail when other criminals who do much worse things do not?
Once we've got a policy of locking up all the brutes, thugs, drug dealers, thieves, and shoplifters then we can look at raising the penalty for crimes like jay-walking and copyright infringement.
Now, of course, if this guy is at the commericial/industrial scale of infringement, complete with counterfeiting discs, and laundering the money made, then yeah, he's costing his victims and society enough to treated like a serious criminal and deserves jail time.
But your average schmuck with an ftp server or some such nonsense