Man gets prison for software piracy
(AP)
Updated: 2006-09-10 10:42
Alexandria, United States - The owner of one of the nation's
largest Internet software piracy websites has been sentenced to more than seven
years in prison.
Nathan Peterson, 27, of Los Angeles, sold products copyrighted by companies
such as Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. at a huge discount on his site,
iBackups.net, prosecutors said. The site began operating in 2003 and was shut
down by the FBI in February 2005.
In addition to Friday's 87-month sentence, US District Court Judge T.S. Ellis
III ordered Peterson to pay restitution of more than $5.4 million and to forfeit
the proceeds of his scheme, which included homes, cars and a boat.
Peterson pleaded guilty in December in Alexandria to two counts of copyright
infringement.
Justice Department and industry officials called the case one of the largest
involving Internet software piracy ever prosecuted.
Last month, Ellis sentenced a Florida man to six years in prison for selling
illegal copies of computer programs on another site,
BuysUSA.com.
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