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First Time Success for U.S. Federal Government in Internet Piracy Case
On May 22nd, 2008, Barry Gitarts, a member of an online piracy group known as Apocalypse Production Crew (“APC”), was convicted of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement in the largest criminal music piracy case in the United States. The jury’s federal court verdict marked the first time that the U.S. federal government has won a jury verdict against someone accused of illegally downloading music. Gitarts now faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000.00 and is required to make full restitution.
Gitarts was regarded as a key member of APC, which was known to many as the first organized group to be involved in music piracy on the Internet. Gitarts’ involvement with APC in administrating a computer server that APC group members used to upload and download hundreds of thousands of pirated music and video copies spanned the course of a year.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, APC members have a higher level of expertise and specialization with respect to releasing copyright music on the Web relative to average users of Lime Wire, another source of music and video downloads. However, the impact of this differentiating point on future litigation is unknown. The Gitarts case is part of a larger continuing federal investigation into organized piracy groups that has resulted in 15 APC members being convicted and 56 total international convictions.
For additional information, visit:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080523/tc_pcworld/146252