You call it moving the goal posts -- I call it dynamic e-business
|
|
|
Video game counterfeiter gets hung out to dry
AN OHIO BLOKE has been sentence to 30 months in the slammer for flogging more than 35,000 illegally copied computer games over the Internet between 2005 and 2009.
According to Security Week, Qiang "Michael" Bi of Powell, Ohio, 36, pleaded guilty back in July to one count of mail fraud, one count of copyright infringement, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
He was sentenced to six months each for the mail fraud and copyright infringement crimes, to run concurrently, plus an additional 24 months for the aggravated identity theft conviction.
When he gets out of jail he will be under supervised house arrest for 12 months and have to serve community service.
In addition to all that he will have to pay a large amount of cash to the games makers that he copied the games from.
So far Bi has written a cheque for $367,669 in cash that represents the proceeds of the crimes. He has also had to sell his house, a car, and all computer and electronic equipment used to illegally copy and flog the games.
When the FBI searched Bi's house they found several CD duplicators and more than 1,000 printed counterfeit CDs.
Bi would buy a single copy of a game, copy it and sell the copies on Ebay and Amazon. It seems that he did not bother cracking them. He later set up a website for customers to download the games they bought.
He sold games from more than 60 different publishers with the estimated total retail value of $700,000 over four years. Business was not bad even if Bi sold the counterfeit games for a cut price $9.95 each. µ
Share this:
Share
YOU ARE MEAN AND INSENSITIVE AND I WILL NEVER COME TO YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY!
YEAH HAVE A GREAT TIME I'M GOING TO THE BEACH AND COOK MARSHMALLOWS. AND IF YOU COME THERE THEN IM GOING TO THE TIKI BAR. AND IF YOU GO THERE, THEN IM GOING TO DENNYS AND I AM NOT GOING TO SHARE YOUR FREE BIRTHDAY SUPPER.
BIG BLUE MEANIE.
You should not forget that he was apparently completely obvious and out there for all to see, and yet they let him go on for almost 5 (five) years, so yeah you should take that into account and subtract from the offenses for the tardy response of all those companies involved as well as the inactivity of the anti-fraud squad.
I'd say that you can for starters subtract 4 years worth of illegal sales offense because of that.
SHOUTER-YOUR CAPS LOCK KEY IS STUCK ON. FOR 2011 YOU SHOULD BUY A NEW KEYBOARD. YOU HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THIS BEFORE. ARE YOUR EYE GLASSES BROKEN OR DO YOU FALSELY BELIEVE THAT SHOUTING HAS SOME VALUE ON A FORUM?
KP should have done 5 years also. It's only ignorant business who reward criminals and jive talking stick and ball jocks for criminal behavior.
If you do the time - as Dog Chapman did THEN you can switch sides. KP never did the time. He was rewarded for his crimes.
Unfortunately courts are easily swayed by politics and money. How can you explain Microsucks being convicted on three continents for violation of anti-trust laws that destroyed other businesses, raped consumers and left the world with completely FUBAR insecure mainstream O/S and yet the EU is the only authority who had the integrity to fine Microsucks?
In many cases the judicial system is incompetent or vile and fails to punish criminals appropriately. For these folks like KP and Microsucks crime pays big so they will continue their criminal ways.
He should serve a minimum 5 years in prison plus at least $3 million in fines IMO.