Czech Judge Cuts Deal With Software Pirate: Get 200K YouTube Views Or Pay Huge Fine

An anonymous reader writes: A judge allowed a software pirate to make a anti-piracy PSA and get away from paying a $373,000 / €351,000 fine he owed Microsoft and other software manufacturers. The only condition was that his video should get over 200,000 views on YouTube. From the BBC's coverage of the trial's unusual outcome: [The defendant, known only as Jakub F] came to the out-of-court settlement with a host of firms whose software he pirated after being convicted by a Czech court. In return, they agreed not to sue him. ... The firms, which included Microsoft, HBO Europe, Sony Music and Twentieth Century Fox, estimated that the financial damage amounted to 5.7m Czech Crowns (£148,000). But the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which represented Microsoft, acknowledged that Jakub could not pay that sum. Instead, the companies said they would be happy to receive only a small payment and his co-operation in the production of the video. In order for the firms' promise not to sue to be valid, they said, the video would have to be viewed at least 200,000 times within two months of its publication this week. ... But, if the video did not reach the target, the spokesman said that — "in theory" — the firms would have grounds to bring a civil case for damages."

Comments

Mostly a Fake!

[paskie]

This is mostly a fake story fabricated by the local anti-piracy organizations.

The judge has nothing to do with it - the guy was sentenced and released on parole, with no damages granted - the associations were referred to civil legal proceedings, and *one* of the associations made an out-of-court settlement offer to the guy. They'll make a viral video about him and the association will not sue.

The $373,000 are damages that would be claimed by the association, but these damages are typically grossly overestimated and only fractions of the claims are granted by Czech courts. The judges usually require detailed analysis of the damages to get convinced what to grant.

Skilled news spinning, in short.

Hoax - sort of

[awe_cz]

This is a PR campaign orchestrated by BSA (Business Software Aliance), see this article (in czech, google translated) https://translate.google.com/t... It's not right to pirate software but it's also not right to lie, shame on you, BSA.

Re: Don't pirate software

[hawkinspeter]

That's dumb. GPL covers the distribution rights, so if you're concerned about that, don't distribute GPL software. GPL places no restrictions on simply using the software.