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Game Pirate Sentenced To Jail Time

Posted by Zonk on from the don't-use-craigslist-for-this dept.

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.'"

3 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. THANK GOODNESS! by glindsey · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope they cleared a few of those pesky rapists and murderers out of the prisons to make room for the awful, awful crime of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT!

  2. Whew by Selfbain · · Score: 5, Funny

    I feel safer now. Nothing scares me more than the thought of walking down the street and having my IP stolen at gunpoint.

    --
    Well, it has never been successfully tested.
  3. Now for modding thought by Nos. · · Score: 5, Informative
    By the sounds of it:

    Brown was facing 10 counts of felony offenses, including grand theft, computer crime and trafficking in counterfeit products. In August, Brown pleaded guilty to two counts of counterfeit trafficking and today received a one-year sentence, the first 90 days to be spent in prison and the rest in work furlough. He was also given five years probation and a fine of $100,000, and will be required to pay $10,000 in restitution to the ESA.

    Which sounds to me like its for selling pirated copies of games. I don't see an issue here. Don't sell copies of games, and you've got a lot less (or maybe nothing at all) to worry about.