We reported two months ago that Hew Griffiths, the leader of the Warez group "DrinkOrDie" had pleaded guilty to copyright infringement after years of living as a fugitive. He was extradited from his home in Australia to the US for the sentencing.
Yesterday, he was sentenced to 51 months in prison for his guilty plea for conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.
"From his home in Australia, Griffiths became one of the most notorious leaders of the underground Internet piracy community by orchestrating the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyrighted material," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher in a statement.
DrinkOrDie is said to have been responsible for over $50 million USD in losses to software groups, record labels and movie studios during its run from 1993 to 2001. In the latter year the group was dismantled after 70 raids on their servers and homes occurred in the US, UK, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Australia.
Because Griffiths spent three years in a detention center in Australia the judge said he will only have to serve 15 months of his sentence.
Source:
Arstechnica
"From his home in Australia, Griffiths became one of the most notorious leaders of the underground Internet piracy community by orchestrating the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyrighted material," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher in a statement.
DrinkOrDie is said to have been responsible for over $50 million USD in losses to software groups, record labels and movie studios during its run from 1993 to 2001. In the latter year the group was dismantled after 70 raids on their servers and homes occurred in the US, UK, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Australia.
Because Griffiths spent three years in a detention center in Australia the judge said he will only have to serve 15 months of his sentence.
Source:
Arstechnica
