In Mississippi: 15-Year Jail Sentence For Selling Pirated Movies and Music

New submitter patella.whack writes "A guilty plea for six counts of selling counterfeit media gets a defendant 15 years in Mississippi. An undercover reporter from the Attorney General's Intellectual Property Theft Task Force managed to buy a total of five copied movies and one music CD from the defendant, who had 10,500 pirated discs at home and two prior convictions: one for assaulting a police officer 17 years ago and one for CD piracy that got him a year under house arrest. Says the RIAA: '[This] highlights the fact that the individuals engaging in these activities are frequently serial criminals for whom IP theft is simply the most convenient and profitable way they could steal from others.' Frequently serial criminals? 15 years? I wonder how much of his sentence can be attributed to his priors rather than to other factors."

Comments

3 strikes and he's out

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe this career criminal should have stuck to misdemeanors like bank robbery and murder; he would have received an easier sentence.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[ljaszcza]

Actually, he should have gotten a job with one of the big banks. Goldman Sachs or such. Lighter sentence yet. Rob a liquor store, get 20 years. Rob 20,000 people of $200,000 in life savings, the feds don't have a case to pursue.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[Anonymous Coward]

The average penalty for rape in the U.S. is 11.8 years. OP's specifics may be wrong, but the idea's the same.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[Jane Q. Public]

Well, hey... at least it's a story about actual piracy in the legal sense, rather than just uploading or downloading.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[hazem]

No one said he was smart. Assault of a police officer takes real brains...

Actually, it doesn't take much to be charged with assault of a police officer. Say you're being arrested and they twirl you around to put the cuffs on you and you stumble into one of them. You've now committed assault if the officer feels like charging you with it.

Want to take it to court? It will be you, a scumbag defendant, vs. that upstanding officer and defender of the public in his sharp uniform, with a jury that's been purged of anyone capable of critical thought.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[Taco Cowboy]

If you assault a police officer, YOU'RE GUILTY. PERIOD.

If the police officer said that you assaulted him , YOU'RE GUILTY. PERIOD.
 
Ftfy.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[blade8086]

The kind of thing where a repeat, professional, career criminal (aka 'organized criminal') is awarded a tough sentence for manufacturing large amounts of illegal counterfit goods for resale aka establishing his own 'criminal enterprise' ?

What exactly is the problem here?

Yes, I agree that some aspects of copyright law are rediculous - but this case, no.

Re:3 strikes and he's out

[xenobyte]

Actual piracy? - Where's the peg leg, the parrot and the ship?

However...

[mcgrew]

I RTFA this morning. This isn't Joe Blow getting a few movies from the pirate bay, this is a counterfeiter. Copyright infringement isn't theft, but I'd say this is, as the criminal is getting the money that should have gone to the movies' producers.

Also, the guy was imprisoned for the very same offence before, as well as going to prison for some violent crimes.

This isn't Joe Nerd getting fifteen years for sharing movies, it's Joe Beentoprison making money off of someone else's work.

Re:Three Strikes Laws

[amiga3D]

I gotta say that if you already were busted once for selling pirate media you should be aware they're out to get you. I think it's harsh but I can't feel sorry for him. It's not like he was using it for his own viewing, he was selling it for income.

Re:Three Strikes Laws

[Hatta]

Three strikes laws should be thrown out as unconstitutional. If you've done your time for the first two strikes, then you've done your time. Any additional punishment for those crimes falls afoul of double jeopardy.

Michael Jackson?

[Frederic54]

Let's say...
Sell a CD copy of Michael Jackson : 15 years in jail
Kill Michael Jackson : 4 years in jail

makes sense...