 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
Home
. Content
Library . News
Items . NZ Movie Pirate Sentenced to Two Years Imprisonment
 25-08-2006
On 25 August 2006, the Manukau District Court sentenced a 42-year old man to two years imprisonment for illegally copying and distributing pirated copies of movies. Judge David Harvey also ruled that the man would have to pay the New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft (NZFACT) reparations of $5,000. On 5 July, the man had pleaded guilty to 21 charges of illegally copying and distributing pirated copies of movies.
The man was arrested following a raid on his home, during which police discovered 10 optical disc burners connected to a server with one terabyte (1,024 gigabyte) storage capacity. Four hundred and eighty-six movie "masters" were stored on the server.
Evidence shows the man earned between $120,000 and $150,000 per year from these activities, for each of the past five years.
On 23 August 2006, Judge Harvey sentenced a music pirate to the first prison term awarded for violations of New Zealand's Copyright Act. The ruling handed down today is the second prison sentence awarded for violations of the Copyright Act.
"The result today has come after lengthy and collaborative investigation by NZFACT, the Police, and the Department of Internal Affairs. NZFACT is serious about protecting our member companies' Intellectual Property Rights and we welcome the decision by Judge Harvey today," said Tony Eaton, Executive Director of NZFACT.
In his 23 August ruling, Judge Harvey said, "It should be made perfectly clear to those who are going to be engaged in commercial copyright infringement that if they are going to embark on this type of activity there will be consequences, that they will be severe, and that if there are going to be downstream consequences for their families then so be it."
<
back to previous page
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
