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

So wait... what?

[mark-t]

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.

How will not getting 200,000 views enable him to be more able to pay the amount he is said to owe, exactly? If the whole point of cooperating with them and making the video was to reduce his damages, apparently on the basis that he supposedly would not be able to afford the damages in the first place, it seems entirely pointless to threaten to come back and sue him for just as much if it doesn't reach a particular view count.

That said, this story is probably high-profile enough that he will probably get the requisite number of views anyway.

To game the system

[mysidia]

the video would have to be viewed at least 200,000 times within two months of its publication this week.

How about robotically-generated views from numerous cloud instances temporarily stood up for the purpose of generating simulated views?