British Software Pirates Jailed

[news=http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/5253/elspa7ry.jpg]Deputy Director General of ELSPA Michael Rawlinson is making quite a name for himself at the moment. Recently, his efforts saw an Xbox modder convicted, the first time in the UK that chipping has resulted in someone earning a criminal record.

Now a husband and wife are getting quite hefty jail terms after a combined force of police, Trading Standards officials and an ELSPA investigator found a ‘secret cupboard’ containing pirated games, music and films. Official estimates put the haul’s value at around £28,000, in terms of how much would-be customers would have to pay for the media if purchased legitimately.

Making a statement to the press, Michael Rawlinson, perhaps sensing that piracy is not the most pressing issue in the mind of the average citizen, was quick to mention that the couple were "...also lining their pockets with taxpayers’ money". There's more comment from Rawlinson in the official press release

The couple were illegally claiming benefit when they were technically unemployed, and the findings of the Department for Work and Pensions - that they were claiming benefits while making a living through piracy, thus making their claims fraudulent - were damning to say the least.

The couple have split up since the raid which will send them both to jail. Andrew King was sentenced to 21 months in prison, though three months of this was from a previous conviction where his sentence was suspended. Angela Susan King was sent down for six months at Liverpool Crown Court.

Just desserts for petty criminals, or people struggling to make ends meet crushed under the boot-heel of the capitalist machine? Let us know what you think - you know the way to our forums by now.

http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/image...ews_source.gif Source: http://news.spong.com/detail/news.asp?prid=9004[/news]

i bet that's only about 1000 disks :fear:

Wow. Is it illegal to have the disks in England? I have heard that in Germany it is what you have on your computer that will get you, not what is burned.

Hopefully they got it mostly for this bit...

Quote:

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making a living through piracy

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and not just for having dl'd and burned stuff. Profiting off of this is just plain wrong.

i don't think it's illegal to own, just trade :unsure:

To own is effectively a civil matter. (You can be sued by the copyright holder).

To sell is effectively a criminal matter. (The Police, Court etc).

In the UK obviously.

For avoidance of doubt, there is no "reasonable use" in the UK. To make copies of stuff you have legally bought is as bad as buying / downloading copies.