TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Web Site Owner Gets 7 Years in Prison for Piracy

Web Site Owner Gets 7 Years in Prison for Piracy

Associated Press News Wire (ap@telecom-digest.org)
Sun, 10 Sep 2006 21:29:40 -0500

The owner of one of the nation's largest Internet software piracy Web
sites 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, U.S. 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.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

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