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Pirate Music Site's Owner Sentenced to Five Years in Prison (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the jailhouse-rock dept.

An anonymous reader shares an update on Artur Sargsyan, who owned the music-pirating site Sharebeast as well as Newjams and Albumjams. TorrentFreak reports: Thursday a U.S. District Judge sentenced the 30-year-old to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and more than $642,000 in restitution and forfeiture... The RIAA claimed that ShareBeast was the largest illegal file-sharing site operating in the United States... "Millions of users accessed songs from ShareBeast each month without one penny of compensation going to countless artists, songwriters, labels and others who created the music," RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman commented at the time...

If Sargsyan had responded to takedown notices more positively, it's possible that things may have progressed in a different direction. The RIAA sent the site more than 100 copyright-infringement emails over a three-year period but to no effect. This led the music industry group to get out its calculator and inform the Deparmtment of Justice that the total monetary loss to its member companies was "a conservative" $6.3 billion "gut-punch" to music creators who were paid nothing by the service... "His reproduction of copyrighted musical works were made available only to generate undeserved profits for himself," said U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak. "The incredible work done by our law enforcement partners and prosecutors in light of the complexity of Sargsyan's operation demonstrates that we will employ all of our resources to stop this kind of theft."
David J. LaValley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said "His sentence sends a message that no matter how complex the operation, the FBI, its federal partners and law enforcement partners around the globe will go to every length to protect the property of hard working artists and the companies that produce their art."

Today if you visit ShareBeast.com or AlbumJams.com, they display an "FBI anti-piracy warning" image notifying visitors the domain has been seized, adding "Willful copyright infringement is a federal crime that carries penalties for first time offenders of up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution." The image is surrounded by a red border with the word "seized" written over and over again.

51 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. 6.3 billion dollars lost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    LOL!!!

    1. Re:6.3 billion dollars lost by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      No, a “conservative” 6.3 billion. Meaning they would have liked to put the figure much higher, but didn’t quite dare to.

      Also: a prison term, a fine and restitution? If you steal actual physical CDs, they’ll stick you in prison, take back whichever CDs they can find and perhaps impound any profits you made selling them, but that’ll be the end of it.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re: 6.3 billion dollars lost by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Probably 4 billion or so.

      How much did dude make running this operation? I didn't see that mentioned.

    3. Re:6.3 billion dollars lost by nukenerd · · Score: 1

      No, a “conservative” 6.3 billion. Meaning they would have liked to put the figure much higher, but didn’t quite dare to.

      That's right. The 6.3 billion is the only the value of what I downloaded myself. Now multiply that by the number of people in the world, greedy shits like me each keeping their 6.3 billions rotting in their bank accounts instead of going to starving media company execs. He's lucky to get only 10 years - should have got 100 billion years by my calcs, and even that is conservative.

    4. Re:6.3 billion dollars lost by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      What can music be worth?
      The government might suggest an average music CD costs $30.
      Some easy number of 12 tracks of 4-5 minutes of music on a CD.
      Say $2.5 per track.
      Now enter that 6,000,000,000 number into the law computer and divided by ...
      A law computer with a bigger display is finally found.
      The federal music math is presented before the court.
      Just the math. No music is allowed.
      Each 0 carefully entered into the computer by hand and the loss of profits calculated before a live audience.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    5. Re: 6.3 billion dollars lost by binarybum · · Score: 1

      Probably about 6.29 BILLION dollars.

      --
      ôó
    6. Re: 6.3 billion dollars lost by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      Another scurrilous kangaroo kourt, drunk on power, afflicting our communities and terrorizing decent people. It's DUH LAW!

  2. Deparmtment of Justice by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Somebody call the grammar police!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  3. Government goons. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thursday a U.S. District Judge sentenced the 30-year-old to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and more than $642,000 in restitution and forfeiture... The RIAA claimed that ShareBeast was the largest illegal file-sharing site operating in the United States... "

    Once again showing who REALLY runs the country. A collections of very large corporations, rotating on a daily basis depending on who has some $ to throw around. This is just the government paying its bills.

    Also, 5 years in prison for running a music piracy site? While Youtube, which is littered with piracy left/right operates freely, and nobody ever would even THINK of prosecuting, much less jail time?

    The FBI getting involved in something as benign as copyright violation is absurd. Meanwhile real criminals who rob people of actual money roam about freely on the internet, stealing identity, money, etc. Real, actual harm rather than "potential lost revenue, and free advertising" that piracy provides.

    1. Re:Government goons. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Piracy does not register on my list of injustice in this world i would promoted it before i would scold anyone for it.
      Fuck the morally bankrupt movie and music business.

    2. Re: Government goons. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 2

      I would agree that for the most part they are morally bankrupt. So we should do whatever we can to discourage people from being corrupted by the morally bankrupt culture these operations disseminate.

      It seems so tedious for people to be churning the same mainstream crap round and round on the net. Torrent distribution can only be so efficient before it turns into a big waste of bandwidth.

      It seems the punishment in this case is extreme, but this guy was helping spread the poison into our culture.

    3. Re:Government goons. by techno-vampire · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The FBI getting involved in something as benign as copyright violation is absurd.

      In the US, copyright is an enumerated power of the Federal Government, as listed in the Copyright Clause. This makes any criminal copyright charges quite literally a federal offense. As there is no federal agency specifically assigned to investigating such cases, it would seem to fall under the FBI's jurisdiction by default. If not, who would you suggest to be more appropriate?

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    4. Re: Government goons. by rmdingler · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I'm conflicted.

      If it's true that Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten offering advice like 'Share everything' and 'Don't take things that aren't yours' is a bit like telling your kids to have fun, but be careful.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    5. Re:Government goons. by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Constitution was amended after the copyright clause was added. Congress was banned from writing any laws to do with speech and since this is about singing, a type of speech, the Federal government has no jurisdiction.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    6. Re:Government goons. by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Congress was banned from writing any laws to do with speech...

      You have a very strange idea of what the First Amendment says and what it means. Maybe you should learn a little more about it before putting your other foot in your mouth.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    7. Re: Government goons. by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      The law in a whore. The side with the most money always wins.

    8. Re: Government goons. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not that they cannot do both. It's that they selectively choose to put extra effort going after one (because of corporate lobbying) instead of the other.

    9. Re: Government goons. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      You can't help but share if you play the CD through speakers. Much to the chagrin of your downstairs neighbor.

    10. Re:Government goons. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Which means that this is a legitimate function of the Federal government. It doesn't mean anything as far as severity goes, and I'd rather see the FBI giving copyright infringement a lower priority.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  4. The FBI.... by Templer421 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can't be bothered to find a Psychopath In Florida that posted his intentions to Social Media USING HIS REAL NAME!

    But RIAA Copyright infringement? YES SIR! WE WILL ARREST HIM NOW SIR!

    1. Re:The FBI.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Children are not shareholders or contributors to campaigns. What do you expect?

    2. Re:The FBI.... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The people who work for the gov don't like to think about what history recalls.
      Tuskegee, MK-Ultra, Gulf of Tonkin.
      The mission is all about keeping the music profits safe.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    3. Re:The FBI.... by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Because it's obviously an AHuxley "Everything's a conspiracy" rant?

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    4. Re:The FBI.... by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      (Wow, can I call 'em, or what.)

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    5. Re:The FBI.... by sjames · · Score: 1

      Yet, it is a single agency with a definite agenda. It's members are expected to toe that line or GTFO.

    6. Re:The FBI.... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Can't be bothered to find a Psychopath In Florida that posted his intentions to Social Media USING HIS REAL NAME!

      But RIAA Copyright infringement? YES SIR! WE WILL ARREST HIM NOW SIR!

      While your Fox Newsworthy meme is admirable, it isn't true - There were several notices sent to the dude running the pirate site

      Defense of your holy cheeto +5

      Relation to truth -1

      Consider applying for a cabinet position. You have the street cred. Remember though, you have to work in a her email statement on at least 70 percent of your postings.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    7. Re:The FBI.... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      The people who work for the gov don't like to think about what history recalls.

      Tuskegee, MK-Ultra, Gulf of Tonkin.

      Oh hell yeah, those groups kicked ass! We were so wasted at that Gulf of Tonkin concert - remember, remember?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    8. Re:The FBI.... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Because it's obviously an AHuxley "Everything's a conspiracy" rant?

      Probably related to all of those lead chips he ate as a child.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    9. Re: The FBI.... by sjames · · Score: 2

      People object in part because the feds seem to be more interested in enforcing copyright than they are in saving lives. Many feel that copyright should never have become a criminal matter (at one time it was a civil matter only). They also object to the crazy inflated damages claimed in practice. They object to the sheer nuttiness of some infamous copyright actions. People object to the insane length of copyright. People object to the uneven enforcement of copyright.

      That's not the same as objecting in principle to any form of copyright.

  5. 6.3 billion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    According to the RIAA, in 2016 the $7.65 billion in revenue in total. I am a bit skeptical that this non-millionare impacted the music industry... at all. But the music industry (though not usually the artists who get basically nothing from their deals 90% of the time) is corrupt and stupid and we already knew that.

    I'm not saying the guy doesn't deserve some punishment, and I'm guessing based on the numbers in the article he was appropriately fined by the courts despite the RIAA's utter insanity, though a 5 year prison sentence seems a bit much.

    1. Re: 6.3 billion? by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      The man being persecuted did no wrong. Perhaps we should call him a dissident.

      Someone with some cash to throw around ought to commission a heroic bronze statue of this dissident, and with great fanfare deliver it to the town where he is imprisoned.

  6. Pirate music? by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm picturing... concertinas.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:Pirate music? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Or maybe ARRRR. E. M.

  7. Re:Watch out for your cornhole, Artur by ls671 · · Score: 2

    The owner of these sites obviously wasn't the smartest person around. Making yourself such an easy to pick apple raises your chances of getting picked!

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  8. BAU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    without one penny of compensation going to countless artists, songwriters, labels and others who created the music,

    i.e. business as usual, from the perspective of the artists & songwriters and others who created the music.

  9. Compare and contrast by eclectro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To a handful of bankers that *really* managed to cause billions of dollars of damage by crashing the entire American economy back in 2007/2008- days they spent in jail: 0.

    I would say that his sentence would be appealable on that fact alone under the fourteenth amendment. However, since his assists are probably entirely gone, It's probably doubtful that he could mount a meaningful appeal.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    1. Re:Compare and contrast by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      To a handful of bankers that *really* managed to cause billions of dollars of damage by crashing the entire American economy back in 2007/2008- days they spent in jail: 0.

      No. Wallstreet CEOs at the back of the trading chain haven't been jailed, but bankers and the industry have been targeted quite a bit. In the USA some 320 bankers at the front end (the people creating the fraudulent loans that were subsequently on-sold and traded on Wallstreet) have been jailed, and $150bn in fines have been levied across the industry due to the incident.

      Ultimately the problem is the people on Wallstreet did nothing illegal. Unethical maybe, but not illegal. In Iceland (the country lots of people like to compare against) the situation is different because there was no segregation between those doing the lending and the trading. Hence the CEOs of the banks got jailed for the crimes that the mortgage brokers are being jailed for in the USA. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    2. Re: Compare and contrast by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      In Soviet America, corruption is compliance with the law.

    3. Re:Compare and contrast by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      > However, since his assists are probably entirely gone, It's probably doubtful that he could mount a meaningful appeal

      That's what the RIAA mafia should always do! Seize the property right away - no appeals!

      How screwed up the legal system is when people without lawyers have no chance of winning.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  10. Re: copyright law isn't fair by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    We could always make our own music and not just shuffle around recordings that a few people have made and giant conglomerates control.

    But it's easier just to torrent the mainstream stuff.

  11. Underestimate by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    It's way too small. I calculate it is as nearly $1Q (quadrillion)

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  12. Take my money by overlook77 · · Score: 1

    I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like purchasing some CD's!

  13. Re: copyright law isn't fair by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    no you can't Disney owns e-flat

  14. Classic Math by QuadEddie · · Score: 2

    So, we're back to classic late 90's-style Napster math are we? With the logical fallacy that if the person downloaded it, they would have bought it had they not been able to obtain it illegally.

    1. Re:Classic Math by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Soon music will be worth 60000000000.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    2. Re:Classic Math by khchung · · Score: 1

      Back to cars: Just because you wouldn't buy the Grand Prix doesn't mean you can take one from someone else regardless of your income.

      Is it a crime if I took a picture of someone else's car?

      No? So why is it suddenly a crime if I can, later on, magically create a physical working replica of the car from that picture?

      --
      Oliver.
  15. newsjam.com by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    newsjam.com seems to remain online.

  16. I guess downloads are out? by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Today if you visit ShareBeast.com or AlbumJams.com, they display an "FBI anti-piracy warning" image notifying visitors the domain has been seized, adding "Willful copyright infringement is a federal crime that carries penalties for first time offenders of up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution."

    Yea, but I want to download some tunes. Thinking maybe NWA "fuck da police". Got that?

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  17. Vote in your primary by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    and demand candidates that don't accept corporate money, like these folks. Right now almost all the candidates are cherry picked by billionaires (google the "Sheldon Primary"). You need to show up at the real primary and punish incumbents.

    No more Marc Rubios, who likes to say anyone can 'buy into' him. I don't care that anyone can buy him. I don't want _anyone_ buying my representatives.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  18. Re:8th Amendment and Jury Nullification by Megol · · Score: 1

    While the music industry should be punished for blatantly lying about damages I don't have any sympathy for this individual assuming he earned money or other compensation for running this operation.

    Jury nullification is a tool not to be used lightly - otherwise mob justice is the result.

  19. Surprised they didn't claim by kimvette · · Score: 1

    Surprised they didn't claim at least $12,586,000,000,000.00 lost. Why? 100 copies of CDs sold at $17.98 times ~7 billion people, all of whom surely would have purchased at least one copy of each were it not for file sharing. /s

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50