Software pirate gets 30 months in prison

It's jailtime for one pirate, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his part in distributing pirated software. Accused of distributing “20,000” pieces of copyrighted software, Eli El was part of a warez group that dealt in many different programs, from applications to games to movies and music. It doesn't seem that Mr. El was a ringleader of any sort, just someone who was a part of the operation.

This is a continuation of many other convictions that have come out of “Operation Safehaven”, a huge sting operation that began in 2003. It first came to light in 2003 when four piraters all plead guilty to similar charges.

Most software pirates we here about being taken down are people that picked a few high-profile programs and began peddling them en-masse for a quick profit. Less often, warez groups are targeted – probably because as soon as a warez group feels like they are under attack they tend to disappear. That is why this operation has been interesting to watch the past three years, as the groups weren't operating just to generate money.