James Delahunty
25 Oct 2005 10:20
A Hong Kong man has become the first ever person convicted of copyright infringement for uploading Hollywood movies using BiTorrent. Chan Nai-ming has been found guilty of illegally uploading at least three Hollywood blockbusters. The three movies named are Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality. The Hong Kong government said it was its first successful action against illegal P2P file sharing. Chan has been released on bail and awaits a sentencing hearing on November 7th.
"This ruling means a lot," said Hong Kong Commerce Secretary John Tsang. File sharing in the country fell by 80% after the arrest according to the Hong Kong customs department. The maximum penalty for the crime is four years and a fine. BitTorrent is widely used for movie and tv piracy because of its fast speeds and reliability. For this reason, several BitTorrent sites have been shut down in the past year and lawsuits filed against users.
Source:
BBC News