US software pirate jailed for 18 months

Quakester2000

January 10, 2005

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that a US man Kishan
Singh has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for distributing
pirate copies of software via the internet, he has also been ordered to
forfeit his computer equipment. Singh pleaded guilty to a charge of copyright
infringement on October 14 2004.

US attorney Paul McNulty said that
Singh had been operating a pay for use website which offered
pirated copies of business software with all copy protection removed.
Software available came from many companies including Microsoft, Adobe,
Macromedia and Autodesk. Information obtained showed that thousands of
software programs were downloaded by paying customer of the website
from around the world during its 6 months in operation. The total value of
software available ranged from $70,000 - $120,000

A US MAN convicted of distributing pirated copies of software over the internet has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit his computer equipment, officials said. Prosecutors said Kishan Singh, 33 of Lanham, Maryland, was sentenced by the Judge TS Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia. Singh pleaded guilty to a charge of copyright infringement on October 14.

US Attorney Paul McNulty said Singh
operated a pay-for-access website through which he offered pirated copies
of business software for with copyright protection devices had been
removed. These included programs produced by Adobe, Autodesk, Macromedia,
and Microsoft. "Evidence revealed that thousands of pirated software
programs were downloaded from Singh"s website by users from around the
world during the six-month period charged," the prosecutor"s office said
in a statement, noting that the value of the software was between
$US70,000 ($92,000) and $US120,000.

I dont see why the judge had to confiscate his computer equipment as long as
they wiped the hard drives clean as he wont have much time
for computers where he's going.

Source: Legal