Jari Ketola
25 Aug 2003 7:05
The leader of MP3 piracy group Apocalypse Production Crew (APC), Mark Shumaker, 21, has pleaded guilty to violating copyright laws. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and US$250,000 fine.
This is the first time an online-focudes piracy group is being charged in federal criminal prosecution. The final sentence is to be decided November 7th in Easrtern District of Virginia.
The plea was, obviously, welcomed by Recording Industry Association of America who has long urged the Justice Department to focus on online music piracy, just like they focus on software piracy.
Copyright holders and anti-piracy groups claim MP3 groups, who release bootleg copies of yet un-released music, do so to for money, when in fact many groups just compete to be the first one to release a particular album. It doesn't, of course, make it any less illegal.
Source:
The Star TechCentral