Ohio Man Faces Huge Video Game Piracy Penalty

[QUOTE="TheMoreYouOwn"] other players in the industry like conceptual artists such as myselfGeneralShowzer

13 years I've been doing it. Got my foot in the door in 1997 right out of college, fortunately. Watched my college roomie struggle for 10 years with odd jobs before he finally got picked up by Warner Bros. gaming department. And yes, the guy does deserve jail time. The cumlitive effect of pirating effects everyone in the creative positions. You don't work in the industry and, naturaly, don't see things the way I or someone else would in my position. I don't think the guy deserves a death sentence, but some jail time definitely.

So he sold 35000 pirated games... I assume console games. For that he loses, his house, his car, gets 2 years in jail and has to pay almost 400k in damages. Ye sounds really reasonable.

Espada12

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"][QUOTE="TheMoreYouOwn"] other players in the industry like conceptual artists such as myselfTheMoreYouOwn

13 years I've been doing it. Got my foot in the door in 1997 right out of college, fortunately. Watched my college roomie struggle for 10 years with odd jobs before he finally got picked up by Warner Bros. gaming department. And yes, the guy does deserve jail time. The cumlitive effect of pirating effects everyone in the creative positions. You don't work in the industry and, naturaly, don't see things the way I or someone else would in my position. I don't think the guy deserves a death sentence, but some jail time definitely.

well considering he sold 35k games, he could have made around $500,000 illegally. so why shouldn't he lose his house and car? he most likely bought them with that money. jail time is perfectly reasonable.. he repeatedly committed several crimes over a long period of time. and what's wrong with him paying damages?Sword-Demon

I feel sorry for the guy... Having his home taken away is terrible. They could have fined him and gave him a strict warning instead of putting him in jail for 2 years and taking his house and car.

Celebrities and the rich get off charges almost easily and the common man goes through things like this...

Another thing is the fact that the FBI intercepted this. Is there no privacy in America? I'd hate to be watched like this.

fend_oblivion

That's because celebrites and rich people have the money to pay for bail and pay off the fines.

But when was the last time you've ever seen a celebrity caught for downloading pirated movies and games? Much less selling said movies and games?

Selling 35,000 units is pretty insane.

[QUOTE="SwagSurf"]

Hopefully that **** loses everything

GeneralShowzer

I feel sorry for the guy... Having his home taken away is terrible. They could have fined him and gave him a strict warning instead of putting him in jail for 2 years and taking his house and car.

Celebrities and the rich get off charges almost easily and the common man goes through things like this...

Another thing is the fact that the FBI intercepted this. Is there no privacy in America? I'd hate to be watched like this.

fend_oblivion

Selling 35,000 pirated games and only serving two years in jail? That's getting off easy imo.

Bigboi500

[QUOTE="the-obiwan"][QUOTE="Mr_Cumberdale"]Piracy is awful, but selling pirated games is extremely bad. This guy deserves to go to jail and pay a huge fine.GeneralShowzer

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Selling 35,000 pirated games and only serving two years in jail? That's getting off easy imo.

HuusAsking

[QUOTE="Espada12"]

So he sold 35000 pirated games... I assume console games. For that he loses, his house, his car, gets 2 years in jail and has to pay almost 400k in damages. Ye sounds really reasonable.

Sword-Demon

He made 350k off them, he sold them at 10 dollars each.

Piracy for profit is without a doubt wrong.

[QUOTE="right4dead"]

damn, i kinda feel bad for him.

ubpoker123

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"][QUOTE="the-obiwan"] you know, there are countries in which they sell everyday massive amounts of pirated dvd movies, games, pc games, software etc, and the police walks near those stores or sellers and wanna know what? they do nothing about it cause it seems to be normal. funny huh?HuusAsking

Macedonia, The Balkans.

And they must tolerate it, because it's not illegal :P

You can open a store and sell pirate CD's.

Good, nothing worse than someone making money of piracy, it's one thing to do it for self use and another to make a living of it.

[QUOTE="fend_oblivion"]

I feel sorry for the guy... Having his home taken away is terrible. They could have fined him and gave him a strict warning instead of putting him in jail for 2 years and taking his house and car.

Celebrities and the rich get off charges almost easily and the common man goes through things like this...

Another thing is the fact that the FBI intercepted this. Is there no privacy in America? I'd hate to be watched like this.

DragonfireXZ95

That's because celebrites and rich people have the money to pay for bail and pay off the fines.

But when was the last time you've ever seen a celebrity caught for downloading pirated movies and games? Much less selling said movies and games?

Selling 35,000 units is pretty insane.

I sure as hell don't sell my illegal stuff.

Meh,his fault.

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"][QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"] My country is like that... People do it for a living, it's not like they enjoy it. You know that the average salary here is 240 euros, and one game is 60 euros? Think about that.GeneralShowzer

Macedonia, The Balkans.

And they must tolerate it, because it's not illegal :P

You can open a store and sell pirate CD's.

Taking away his hime & car is a bit harsh IMO. just make the man serve his sentence & make him pay some fines. end of story. no need to ruin his entire life.

[QUOTE="SwagSurf"]

Hopefully that **** loses everything

GeneralShowzer

[QUOTE="Sword-Demon"][QUOTE="Espada12"]

So he sold 35000 pirated games... I assume console games. For that he loses, his house, his car, gets 2 years in jail and has to pay almost 400k in damages. Ye sounds really reasonable.

Espada12

He made 350k off them, he sold them at 10 dollars each.

his name is Bi and also a description of his activities for the next 2 years.

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"][QUOTE="SwagSurf"]

Hopefully that **** loses everything

TheMoreYouOwn

It's always baffeling to see who rears their head and tries to somehow spin a defense for this kind of stuff. Forget the corporate side of the gaming industry for a moment and put aside the "gonna screw the big wigs like Activision" mentality, and realize that just maybe, other players in the industry like conceptual artists such as myself, or the animators and riggers, environmental designers and texture mappers etc, just perhaps get hurt by piracy also? Think about that the next time you want to justify pirating. You're not just hurting the suites. You're hurting the ones that actually have the passion and put in the hours and hours of work to make the games you enjoy.

Finally! Someone has a freakin brain. I am a retail manager. Believe me I am far from rich. If someone comes in and steals merchandise from my store. It hurts the company therefor hurting its employees therefor hurting me. Now my store is not in a bad area, but I could see how some stores in a bad area will close do to high shrink. Those theifs cause those people's jobs that are trying to feed themselves and possibly children. That is what I hate about theifs. They only care about themselves and do not care how they are hurting others.

Gotta love how people put so much hate on the "suits". Well, those "suits" gave my dad a job for over 40 years who gave me a college education and a damn good upbringing.

[QUOTE="Sword-Demon"] well considering he sold 35k games, he could have made around $500,000 illegally. so why shouldn't he lose his house and car? he most likely bought them with that money. jail time is perfectly reasonable.. he repeatedly committed several crimes over a long period of time. and what's wrong with him paying damages?thom_maytees

.

And what did they do to CEO of countrywide Angelo Mozilla.

The same man who conned hundreds of millions off of people.

The same man who knew the assets he was selling were toxic even as early as 2003.

They fined him around 60 million in which his company payed most and they barred him from holding a CEO position.

But what does it matter he made away with 300-400 million dollars and is over 70 years old so he can retire and never work again.

The president of Countrywide made around 60 million and was fined only around 6 million which his company payed most for.

He can't hold a high position as president in a company for some years but he just made away with around 60 million so what does he care.

.

We have high position employees in banks which gamble with people's money and deal with no responsibility because it's not their money.

The higher the risk the higher their pay check is. What do they care about losing everyone's money and crashing the market because they try to sell sub prime mortgages as triple A bonds. The government will just bail them out with a simple slap on the wrist while they fill their pockets.

.

The rich will get away with almost anything just so long as they do not try to rip off a bunch of other rich people.

Bernard Madoff was trying to take money from the rich so he actually got punished.

If your have power and are rich you can take money from regular citizens and the poor and get away with it.

.

The rich corporations own the government. They pay the politician's campaign finances and the politicians will work for them.

And all while this is happening the citizens feel content knowing they are being raped economically while also having our rights slowly stripped away.

We bicker at each other when the main threat is the government system. The system which rewards greed even if done illegally.

oh yea ohio on the map...... oh wait

I'd hate to be watched like this.

fend_oblivion

ah.. didn't read.. or do any math.. but the points still standSword-Demon

I mean I can understand the jail time and fine, but taking away the dude's house/car is really over doing it IMO.

[QUOTE="Sword-Demon"]

ah.. didn't read.. or do any math.. but the points still standEspada12

I mean I can understand the jail time and fine, but taking away the dude's house/car is really over doing it IMO.

He probably bought quite a bit of the stuff with all the illegal money. Realistically to me I don't see the point of giving the guy 2 years of prison if he is never going to be able to actually become a financially competent person. His life is ruined (sure its his own fault) but I mean the dude is completely screwed after he gets out of prison. Prison should be a punishment but if all its going to do is ruin people when they get out (for a crime like this anyway), there is something wrong.

Selling 35,000 pirated games and only serving two years in jail? That's getting off easy imo.

Bigboi500

true. the MPAA always warns that if you make a backup copy of a dvd or blu-ray, you're liable for up to 5 years in prison and/or $250,000 in damages. that's just from one movie and just making a backup copy. this guy pirated 35,000 games and is getting off with a lighter penalty. that's bull----.

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Selling 35,000 pirated games and only serving two years in jail? That's getting off easy imo.

cowgriller

true. the MPAA always warns that if you make a backup copy of a dvd or blu-ray, you're liable for up to 5 years in prison and/or $250,000 in damages. that's just from one movie and just making a backup copy. this guy pirated 35,000 games and is getting off with a lighter penalty. that's bull----.

Its a deterrent. I could make 50 back ups and hand them out and they are never going to catch me. The amount of people subjected to the full grunt of that punishment is incredibly small.

[QUOTE="cowgriller"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Selling 35,000 pirated games and only serving two years in jail? That's getting off easy imo.

ActicEdge

true. the MPAA always warns that if you make a backup copy of a dvd or blu-ray, you're liable for up to 5 years in prison and/or $250,000 in damages. that's just from one movie and just making a backup copy. this guy pirated 35,000 games and is getting off with a lighter penalty. that's bull----.

Its a deterrent. I could make 50 back ups and hand them out and they are never going to catch me. The amount of people subjected to the full grunt of that punishment is incredibly small.

not actually true. if one were stupid enough to hand it to an undercover agent or officer, one would be screwed. how do you think LEO's get drug dealers? it's not just stakeout's anymore.

[QUOTE="ActicEdge"]

[QUOTE="cowgriller"]

true. the MPAA always warns that if you make a backup copy of a dvd or blu-ray, you're liable for up to 5 years in prison and/or $250,000 in damages. that's just from one movie and just making a backup copy. this guy pirated 35,000 games and is getting off with a lighter penalty. that's bull----.

cowgriller

Its a deterrent. I could make 50 back ups and hand them out and they are never going to catch me. The amount of people subjected to the full grunt of that punishment is incredibly small.

not actually true. if one were stupid enough to hand it to an undercover agent or officer, one would be screwed. how do you think LEO's get drug dealers? it's not just stakeout's anymore.

I'm obviously not going to hand them out to randoms, that would be stupid. I'm making the point that they say you shouldn't make one for yourself but I could make 50 and not get caught if I was smart about it. Its a deterrent, they won't catch 1 1000th of the people who will do it anyway.

I hate pirates and people who sell 35,000 pirated games deserve to face huge penalties.

Well the guy is screwed when he gets out.

[QUOTE="GeneralShowzer"]I am friends with a guy who sells PS2 and PC games, as well as movies off a stand near a mall. He's a good man, and this is his only way of income.DragonfireXZ95

I believe that this particular fella deserved what he got, it was an extreme case of piracy and he probably just got wrapped up in the life style of it. It's terrible that he lost everything but that's just how it is. However, I don't agree with the way the FBI has suddenly thought that they have to make an "example" out of people. An older gentleman I know from work had to serve jail time and pay off several thousands dollars in fines because his 14 year old son downloaded music illegally from his dads computer.

wow he got pounded... its silly ppl get this carried away with doing this.. im watching the papper and waiting to see my modder friend get busted for this lol.

I don't care how many games he pirated I don't see why his life had to be ruined because of it. Sure he messed up but seriously, Jail time plus losing your house, car and every cent you own seems a bit excessive.gmaster456

I believe that this particular fella deserved what he got, it was an extreme case of piracy and he probably just got wrapped up in the life style of it. It's terrible that he lost everything but that's just how it is. However, I don't agree with the way the FBI has suddenly thought that they have to make an "example" out of people. An older gentleman I know from work had to serve jail time and pay off several thousands dollars in fines because his 14 year old son downloaded music illegally from his dads computer.

Natural_Fighter

Really now? That actually blows. Do you live in the US?