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Sunday, February 27, 2011

"Pirates with Attitudes:" Sharing or Illegal?

Background:
  
“Pirates with Attitudes” was a worldwide group distributing thousands of copyrighted software including the then unreleased Windows 2000.  The site did not actually sell software, but was more of a barter system.  Intel employees would give the site access to software they obtained from work in exchange for software that the site had.  Justin Robbins from Charlotte, NC was a Microsoft employee who supplied Microsoft software and allowed access to Microsoft’s internal network with his personal identification and password.  The software was available on a hidden internet site at a university in Quebec, Canada called Sentinel.


The Question:

The website did not receive a monetary profit for the software, but instead received additional software that they could use.  Think about the current controversy over Limewire and how songs are only exchanged with no money involved.  Do you think the Pirates with Attitudes group should be punished for sharing software among their group?


The Court's Answer:

Seventeen defendants were indicted from the group in 2000 by a federal grand jury after an undercover FBI investigation.  The members pleaded guilty and received jail time, house arrest, probation, and fines.   The group was in violation of the No Electronic Theft (NET)  act, which holds people responsible for copyright infringement even if no profits are involved.  So, basically, under the NET act you do not actually have to sell copyrighted software to be at fault.


Follow this link to view the indictment:
http://www.cybercrime.gov/pirates.htm
  



http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/pirates.htm