IFPI Hails Lengthy Prison Term for International Music Bootlegger
A British judge has jailed a notorious international music bootlegger for three and a half years, a move applauded by IFPI on behalf of the international recording industry. Mark Purseglove, 33, is estimated to be one of the biggest bootleggers worldwide, amassing a £6.6 million ($12.5 million) fortune in 11 years of music piracy. Purseglove sold his bootlegs around Europe, in Japan and across the world via an international network of wholesale dealers. He had also used internet auction sites such as eBa
y, falsely advertising the discs as rare items, charging as much as $240 per CD. He was arrested in June 2002 after protracted investigations by anti-piracy teams from IFPI and BPI, the bodies representing the international and UK recording industry.
Purseglove has now lost all of his assets including two homes in Chelsea in London, a home in Brighton and his Aston Martin sports car. He was jailed and ordered to forfeit all of his assets after being sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment on charges of Conspiracy to Defraud the UK recorded music industry. The confiscation order, amounting to £1.8 million (US$3. 4 million), is a British record for music piracy.
Delivering the sentence, Judge Pontius made it clear that Purseglove's decision to “flout the law to reap considerable financial rewards” would not be tolerated and that he “needed to pass a sentence to deter you and others and send a strong message that the courts will provide effective protection of the rights of producers, composers and publishers” and that he wished to “deprive you of as much as I lawfully can” adding that the “loss to the recording industry was likely to be considerable.”
According to Iain Grant, IFPI’s Head of Enforcement: “This kind of sentence sets a good example to the criminals involved in music piracy all over the world and to the judicial systems which need to deal with them. This was a major international bootlegger motivated by enormous profits who ran a sophisticated illegal business across the world. The confiscation of the huge proceeds of his activities is warmly welcomed - this is one of the most vital elements of an effective criminal justice system in deali
ng with this kind of organized crime.”
IFPI.org, July 9 2004; Read the press release: http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20040708.html
RIAA Applauds Senate Passage of the ART Act and PIRATE Act
On June 25, 2004, The United States Senate passed the PIRATE Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee respectively, that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring civil copyright infringement cases. Currently, the Justice Department may only bring criminal prosecutions. This legislation offers flexibility in Federal enforcement to assure that the punishment fits the crime. The Senate also p
assed the ART Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), that will allow civil actions against piracy of pre-release works and prohibit camcording of motion pictures for unauthorized redistribution.
RIAA Chairman and CEO, Mitch Bainwol spoke on behalf of the association regarding the ART Act and the PIRATE Act:
“I commend the passage of these common sense proposals that offer flexibility in the enforcement against serious crimes that damage thousands of hardworking artists, songwriters and all those who help bring music to the public. These Acts will provide federal prosecutors with the flexibility and discretion to bring copyright infringement cases that best correspond to the nature of the crime, and will assure that valuable works that are pirated before their public release date are protected.
“Despite some encouraging signs, piracy continues to plague the music community. There’s an essential role for education, enforcement by copyright owners, and federal prosecutions of the worst offenders.”
In related news, On June 22, 2004, Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 to allow creative artists to sue corporations that profit by encouraging children, teenagers and others to commit illegal or criminal acts of copyright infringement.
RIAA.com, June 25, 2004; Read the press release:
http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/062504.asp
Read Senator Hatch’s press release:
http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Print&PressRelease_id=1083&suppresslayouts=true
BPI Not Set to Begin P2P Lawsuits - Yet
While the European music industry has started suing file swappers in Europe, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) insists that it does not plan to join in yet.
Following the lead of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, European members of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) have filed more than 200 suits in Germany, Denmark and Italy. Several hundred more are expected over the coming weeks.
According to IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Berman: “On the strength of the developments in Denmark, Germany and Italy we can confirm that there will be more legal action in other countries in the near future.
“We need to continue letting people all over the world know that file-sharing other people's copyrighted music is illegal, that it is damaging the whole music sector, that it is not anonymous and that it carries legal consequences.”
In the UK, the BPI said it has no plans yet to launch legal action. “The implication from IFPI is that the UK will be next to file lawsuits, but this is not the case,” said a BPI spokesman. “Our strategy currently is to monitor the situation. But if we feel that our warnings are not effective, including sending instant messages to P2P users, then legal action is a route we will take.”
Australian IT, March 25, 2004 (Simon Hayes); Vnunet.com, June 9, 2004 (Dinah Greek)
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1155737
eBay in Court: Can it Last as Counterfeit Central?
The popular auction site, eBay, has allegedly become a haven for piracy of all types. Not only can bootleg music and movies be found en masse, counterfeit merchandise has also made its home at the site.
Recently, luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. has sued eBay, claiming the online auctioneer aided violations of the Tiffany trademark by letting counterfeit items be sold on its website. The lawsuit asks that eBay be stopped from listing any “Tiffany” merchandise that is not genuine and for eBay to account for profits it made on the sale of counterfeit Tiffany merchandise or else pay up to $1 million for each type of fake Tiffany merchandise sold on the website. eBay has dodged the bullet of blame thus far when
it comes to counterfeits, watching its members get hit with lawsuits, but now the auction site is starting to be held accountable.
In a related story, eBay members have initiated a class-action suit against the online auctioneer over a problem with the company's latest billing system.
CNET News.com, June 21, 2004 (Reuters);
http://news.com.com/Tiffany+sues+eBay+in+counterfeit+items+suit/2100-1038_3-5242722.html
Quick Bits and Bytes
Hollywood Offers $500 Bounty for Movie Bootleggers
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The U.S. movie industry is enlisting theater employees to help combat piracy, offering a reward of up to $500 for every person they turn into the police.
The Anti-Camcording Rewards Program was unveiled Monday by the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), which represents the major studios, and the National Assn. of Theater Owners (NATO). ‘Camcording’ has become a very potent source of piracy. A great majority of the films that show up on the Internet for download are a result of camcorders, according to MPAA spokesman Matt Grossman.
According to the MPAA, movies are usually filmed by camcorder during the first few days of their U.S. release. The pirated product is then distributed on file-sharing networks and other online outlets, as they make their way to street corners around the world. In 2003, the MPAA seized 52 million discs worldwide with an estimated cost of $3.5 billion.
“Theater employees are increasingly vigilant about individuals who surreptitiously set up camcorders in their theaters,” NATO president John Fithian said. “This program will give every theater worker added incentive to take action against pirates and help protect our industry from this scourge.”
FindLaw Legal News, June 22, 2004 (Nicole Sperling);
http://news.findlaw.com/entertainment/s/20040622/filmpiracydc.html
Hazardous Counterfeit Products
While the harmful effects of piracy are usually thought to be industry related, some have experienced the actual pain of the worldwide plague of counterfeiting first-hand. Injuries from overheating counterfeit cell phone batteries purchased right on Verizon store shelves sparked a recall in late June 2004 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “We know of at least one burn situation on someone's face that's occurred,” said Hal Stratton of the Commission. Counterfeit electrical cords have been known t
o melt and have been found as the reason behind home fires. The auto industry has also felt its share of knock-off problems, for example, brakes made of compressed grass and wood were recently discovered in American stores. In China, fake baby formula recently killed 60 infants, and in June 2004, customs agents charged members of an alleged counterfeiting ring with smuggling a half-billion dollars in Chinese knock-offs in just 10 months. Commenting on the worldwide dangers of piracy and counterfeiting, M
ike Garcia of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said, “It's an incredibly lucrative business… It's seen as being an area where there's lax enforcement, lower penalties than narcotics smuggling.”
CBSNews.com, June 25, 2004;
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/25/eveningnews/consumer/main626211.shtml
Piracy Spreads to Ringtones
Record labels are concerned that Xingtone, software that allows users to turn digital music files into ring tones, is becoming the Napster of a $3 billion industry. Labels for artists including HILARY DUFF offer Xingtone exclusives, but others are skeptical. “It's troubling that a company would be profiting off the backs of artists when this business is just getting started,” said a source at EMI. A Xingtone rep responded, “Are we innovative and cool and all the great things Napster is? Absolutely. But
we're not illegal.”
RollingStone.com, June 11, 2004
Top
Services
|
Digest
|
Anti-Piracy FAQ
|
Copyright FAQ
|
Breaking News
|
Press
|
Archives
|
Links
|
Search
|
Home
|
Intro
