RSSSoftware Pirate Gets 7 Years in Prison
By Ed Oswald | Published September 22, 2006, 3:20 PM
A California man has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison and ordered to pay $5.4 million in restitution as a result of a federal piracy case, software company Autodesk said Friday. In addition to Autodesk, 26-year-old Nathan Peterson also was copying and selling software from Adobe, Macromedia and Symantec, the company said in a statement.
Estimated losses to the software companies range anywhere from $7 million to $20 million. As a result of his conviction, Peterson will also be forced to forfeit any property obtained as a result of the money made from the operation, including multiple cars, homes and a boat.
Among the items seized are a number of bank and trading accounts, a fully restored 1949 Mercury Coupe purchased originally for $44,000, a 2005 Dodge Ram, a 2003 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2004 Toyota Camry, a 2005 Toyota Corolla, and a 2006 Mercedes-Benz S-Class purchased for $125,000.
Peterson operated iBackups, a company that claimed to sell the software as "backup copies" for owners of the original software. The Software Information Industry Association first alerted the FBI of this possible illegal activity in 2003, which in turn an investigation led to the site being shut down.
In December, Peterson pleaded guilty, and the sentencing occurred on September 8, Autodesk said.
"Peterson has said that most of the software was sold to individual consumers, although he did sell to some companies and to at least one school district," Autodesk License Compliance director Sandy Boulton commented. "We commend the FBI and Department of Justice for their efforts and hope that consumers will purchase products direct from the developers or from their local authorized resellers to eliminate the risks of engaging in illegal activities."
In addition to his software conviction, Peterson was also sentenced to 16 months in prison on gun charges in California related to an investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Theft is a crime? Do they lock up all the developers stealing code from on another or does the said company just do a payout?
Funny how you can steal a few $million and if your company pays the "victim" out then everything is A-ok. The persons responsible are still a "menace" to the public but we can pretend nothing happened.
Why isn't this so with individuals?
Score: 0
|...
"Certainly deserves
to be jailed, but it
still bothers me that
there is no equality
in the sentencing of
criminals"
...
Whenever you commit a crime, you risk 'inequity'
in sentencing. So best not to commit crimes !
Since this was a federal prosecution, the PC Rat
will observe that for the past dozen years we had
federal sentencing guidelines which attempted to
make more equity in sentencing ...until just last
year when The Supremes ~discovered~ that
sentencing guidelines are "unconstitutional" !
Yet in this instance your fav rodent doesn't think
the sentence was unfair. The guy wasn't a "thug"
hitting people over the head ...but he ~did~ steal
millions of dollars.
But if you're saying thugs ought to get harsher
sentences, Bro. Rat wouldn't disagree.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
Score: 0
|Please, please, PLEASE...
stop talking in third-person.
Score: 0
|yeah its getting realy annoying. he must live in his mom's basement
Score: 0
|Certainly deserves to be jailed, but it still bothers me that there is no equality in the sentencing of criminals. You'll jail this guy for 7 years for ripping people off; then send a thug to jail for just 2 years. Doesn't make me feel confident in the legal system. :P
Score: 0
|...
"So please lay off
your bs. It just
shows your true
personality in life
if you think he
deserved this."
...
Thank you for justifying theft. Is kidnapping and
rape ok with you, too ?
You criminals can be expected to stick up for one
another !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
Thou shall
not steal.
...
Score: 0
|Because he thinks this sentence unjust, you assume he condones rape and is therefore he's a criminal?! How the hell do you make that leap in logic? :P
Zealot.
Score: 0
|...
"Because he thinks
this sentence unjust,
you assume he condones
rape"
...
No, the little jerk was condoning theft. When you
justify crime you can't stop at theft. EVERYTHING
is up for grabs !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
Score: 0
|Score: 0
|Reading more posts here just reaffirms all the aholes we have living in this world. Get a life.
Score: 0
|...
"Reading more posts
here just reaffirms
all the aholes we
have living in this
world"
...
Yeah, with ~you~ as Chief A-hole !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
"Share a file /
Go to jail !"
...
Score: -1
|The story is misleading, he was SELLING the software. BIG difference.
So please lay off your bs. It just shows your true personality in life if you think he deserved this. People like you are the very reason why the RIAA runs around arresting Grandmas.
Score: 0
|Your right, he didn't deserve this. 7 years is too short, he should have gotten at least 10. Lucky bas****.
Score: 0
|If you cant do the time dont do the crime
Piracy is a matter of time before you get caught, it is not IF you get caught but WHEN, because sooner or later you are going to piss off a customer and he is going to cash in the reward for you.
Score: 0
|Quote By wincement posted Sep 23, 2006 - 2:09 PM
Just a guess, but do you happen to pirate software?
They're coming for you next.
My Question is why is it so easy to piriate software? With all the money software companies make, it seems like they would have better security measures on the software then what they have now
Score: 0
|Because there is virtually no material cost to someone if they want to make a "digital" copy of something.
If you can access something, you can copy it. Simple as that. There are ways to make it more difficult, but there is absolutely nothing foolproof.
...yet.
Score: 0
|well considering there is no way around a stand-alone recorder, i should say so.
Score: 0
|...
"A California man
has been sentenced
to seven years and
three months in
prison"
...
And the Federal system has prisoners serve 85%
of their sentences.
So, this ~ain't~ going to be a year in prison and
out on 'good behavior' !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
"Share a file /
Go to jail !"
...
Score: 0
|cant see Copy_inligal as lone as he pays Firme_money some
Score: 0
|He was selling illegal so i cant say i feel sorry for him.
Score: 0
|...
"He was selling illegal
so i cant say i feel sorry
for him"
...
Quite so ! It's all STEALING whether selling copied
software or sharing files without paying.
...
The Computer Rodent
...
"Share a file /
Be deported to
Detroit !"
...
Score: 0
|No, grabbing a candy bar from the servo is stealing. Selling pirated copies of software is, funnily enough, software piracy.
Score: 0
|because its not depriving the producer of the item, it is spatent infringement. NOT PIRACY, which is a stupid name for it. Pirates didn't go around making copies of treasure and selling it, or using software without permission, they stole, shot up people and sunk ships. and if you went and copied a candybar and sold copies of it, it would be patent infringement, NOT PIRACY, and NOT THEFT. got it? good.
Score: 0
|I see PC_Tool isn't up yet.
Score: 0
|...
"I see PC_Tool
isn't up yet"
...
He's up ...but the Warden won't let him use
the computer today !
...
The Computer Rodent
...
Score: -1
|And what, pray tell, were you expecting?
Score: 0
|Love hearing stories like this. A**wipe got what he deserved. Living the good life off everyone elses hard work. Screw him. I hope he learns about new and exciting things in prison.
Score: 0
|rofl...
A little harsh, but I can't say I disagree.
Score: 0
|I thought Microsoft had some share in Autodesk, could have sworn I have seen a Microsoft product to deal with Autodesk, or is that AutoCad :lol:
Score: 0
|They probably got sued by them at some point.
Score: 0
|7yrs eh, they should fry the prick in my opinion.
Score: 0
|Yeah, and while a murderer gets away with a $750 fine. I love "justice". :P
(For reference, this refers to an incident where a motor vehicle was used as a lethal weapon)
Score: 0
|I'm just saying.. I mean in the old days people engaged in piracy would have been hang or shot.
Score: 0
|"Typical BS on someone turning a profit and paying the mortgage and using copies of some whiney a** companies software to do it."
Your Kidding -- Right?
Wow.
Wake up from that delusional state your in.
He deserves Everything he Got... and LOST.
Case Closed.
Score: 0
|You know that at least one troll had to comment on how the big companies screw the little guy, right? lol It wouldn't be natural if it didn't occur...
Software companies screw their customers, and the government screws both the consumer and the companies, but theft is theft is theft. If the guy really wanted to make a difference, he could have supported open source applications, or worked out reseller rights with said companies. No matter how many different ways you slice it, theft is still theft.
~dnc
Score: 0
|typical BS on someone turning a profit and paying the mortgage and using copies of some whiney a** companies software to do it. The US government steals and kills all the time and it doesn't get s*** ever done to it. wars are waged on false pretenses and yet noone gets punished for it. I'm willing to bet hard currency that most of all these companies that are whining about Mr. Peterson pirating their software won't admit that their ph***ing software is written by offshored programmers for pennies on the dollar and then sold to unwitting dupes for tens of thousands of dollars.. I don't give a rip about these corporations.. I work for one of them and I see how they ph*** people out of their money all in the name of business..
Score: 0
|Just a guess, but do you happen to pirate software?
They're coming for you next.
Score: 0
|"In addition to Autodesk, 26-year-old Nathan Peterson also was copying and selling software from Adobe, Macromedia and Symantec, the company said in a statement."
No Microsoft products? Tells a story, does it not? Apparently, Microsoft has better enforcement regarding large-scale piracy, because Nathan Peterson didn't pirate anything from Microsoft...
...of course, this doesn't HAVE to be the case, but I suspect it is...
Score: 0
|"because Nathan Peterson didn't pirate anything from Microsoft..."
That we know of... Most everyone [in the warez "business"] has pirated something from MSFT, so for this guy to not have done it would really surprise me. But, hey, not everyone loves MSFT... lol
~dnc
Score: 0
|If only he'd stolen millions from a company pension fund.
Then he would have got off scott free.
(Okay, so I'm cynical!) ;-)
Score: 0
|