A man who set up a business selling pirated games on consoles has been jailed
for 15 months and fined $415,900.
Kifah Maswadi, age 24, of Oakland, Florida, had been selling a handheld
gaming console called Power Player, which is closely modeled on the Nintendo
Entertainment System. The devices held 76 pirated games, chiefly Nintendo
titles.
Maswadi pleaded guilty to one count of copyright infringement and was
sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He
was also sentenced to three years of probation and 50 hours of community
service, including public education about criminal copyright infringement.
The case highlights the difference in sentencing policy between those who
pirate for themselves and those who try and
make
a business out of it. Typically the latter case involves jail time where as
private
individuals generally receive fines.
The Department of Justice, which is currently
cracking
down on piracy, estimated that Maswadi made more than $390,000 from his
business activities. The fine was an attempt to recoup those profits and add a
fine as well.
Nevertheless the fines are insignificant in comparison to Nintendo’s
lost
revenue. Maswadi sold more than 8,000 of the consoles, or more than 600,000
games, valuing each game at less than a dollar.
However, such fines could get much higher and their scope broadened under the
proposed
Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA).
Some ACTA proposals suggest such sentences will not only be passed to
businesses that exist just to sell pirated goods but also on legitimate
businesses that may accidentally be carrying such material.
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