US Software Pirate Jailed

The fight against pirates who simply ignore the copyright laws records one more win as David M. Fish, a 26-year-old man living in Woodbury, Conn., has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after he was involved in multiple illegal activities. According to a statement signed by the Department of Justice, David Fish distributed illegal copies of copyright protected material on the web to hundreds of users. "From approximately August 2004 to July 2005, Fish served as the site operator as well as a scripter, equipment supplier, broker and encoder for warez sites," the DoJ explains.

As part of the case, the investigators found a server which was said to contain approximately "13,000 pirated software titles including movies, games, utility software and music." Moreover, using the logs stored on the computer, the investigators demonstrated that Fish was involved in the distribution of an impressive number of pirated files, including "the uploading of 131 software titles and downloading 373 software titles to and from the warez FTP server between Aug. 16, 2003, and March 29, 2004."

The case was an important chapter of the Operation Site Down and Operating FastLink which, according to the Department of Justice, "are the largest and most successful global criminal enforcement actions ever taken against the organized piracy groups which are responsible for most of the initial illegal distribution of copyrighted movies, software, games and music on the Internet."

What's really remarkable is that through these two important campaigns, the authorities managed to record impressive results such as convictions, arrests and pirates sent to prison. "A total of 108 felony convictions; more than 200 search warrants executed in 15 countries; the confiscation of hundreds of computers and illegal online distribution hubs; and the removal of more than 100 million dollars worth of illegally-copied copyrighted software, games, movies and music from illicit distribution channels," the DoJ mentioned the results of the campaign.

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