Loads of stuff goes up on torrent sites before they’re supposed to hit the light of day. That includes games, operating systems, music, movies and more. Clearly, you somehow have to be on the inside of any of the firms creating that content in order to get your hands on it and upload it to the ‘net. However, if you’re an insider and you get caught doing just that, you’re going to have some ‘splainin’ to do, as Ricky Ricardo of I Love Lucy fame might say.
Or you might have some payin’ to do.
A record producer and DJ based in Sweden who got a hold of a Beyonce album before it was set to be released, uploaded it, effectively leaking the entire album to the public. The man initially faced a fine of $233,000 and a jail sentence which could have lasted two years. However, in the end, he got a much lighter punishment than that.
The price? A $1,200 fine. No jail time, no nothin’.
Not only did the DJ upload the album, but he used his neighbor’s wi-fi network to do it, in an effort to protect himself and thus have a patsy to take the fall for him in case the feds ever got on his case. The legal charge was spearheaded by Sony Music Entertainment, though considering that they didn’t get much for their efforts, if anti-piracy cases continue to end like this, it could hamper their desire to pursue legal action against those who illegally upload content to the Internet prior to its official release date.
Image credit: www.applemacvideo.com
