James Delahunty
19 May 2006 19:43
Two men have received jail terms of between 6 to 15 months for distributing pirated copies of music on the Internet through their release groups. George Hayes, 31, a member of the release group "Chromance," or "CHR," received a 15 month jail sentence after pleading guilty to criminal copyright infringement. He was sentenced by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia. Separately, Aaron Jones, 30, was sentenced to six months in prison and six months' home confinement.
Along with another man, Derek Borchardt, 22, Jones pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement during his involvement with a release group known as "Apocalypse Crew," or "APC." Borchardt was sentenced to six months' home confinement for his involvement with the group. Another alleged APC member, Matthew Howard, 24, is set to be sentenced next week.
These are the first federal criminal sentences for members of pre-release music groups that stemmed from the FBI's Operation FastLink, which targeted professional piracy groups on the Internet. The FBI had help from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its investigation.
Source:
Yahoo