Brit software pirate gaoled

A BRITISH SOFTWARE PIRATE has been sent to the clink for 51 months after admitting to piracy charges stateside.

Hew Griffiths was the leading member of cracking group DrinkOrDie which according to US estimates has churned out around $50 million worth of pirated products - including software, music and movies. Big name software cracked by the group includes products by Adobe, Symantec, Novell and Microsoft.

Hew's been held by the Aussies after a raid on the DrinkOrDie group where he's been fighting against an extradition to the States. According to the Beeb, this is the first extradition of its sort for an intellectual property crime.

The official charge is "conspiracy to commit copyright infringement" and carries a total penalty of 51 months. However, since he's been holed up in an Aussie jail for some time already, it looks like he'll be serving around 15 months in the States instead of the full 51. µ