Sign up for a new account or log in here:
Four members of prolific illegal file sharing group iMAGiNE have been ordered to serve prison terms after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. The group's leader Jeramiah Perkins, 40, managed to receive the longest sentence ever handed to a convicted file sharer -- five years in federal prison.
Fellow cohort and defendant Gregory A. Cherwonik, 53, set the previous record in November with 40 months of prison time. Meanwhile, Sean Lovelady, 28, and Willie O. Lambert, 57, had already been ordered to serve 23 months and 30 months, respectively. A fifth iMAGiNE crew member is due for sentencing in March.
IMAGiNE is well-known for recording and sharing box office movies long before they arrive in DVD format. The pirate release group would record cinema showings with a camcorder while another member would capture threatre audio separately for higher fidelity. The group would then mux the video and audio streams together, creating a final product to be distributed via file sharing networks like BitTorrent.
During and as part of the conspiracy, the conspirators played different roles in the operation of the IMAGiNE Group and participated in the conspiracy through various criminal acts. These roles included acting as website owner/operator, website administrators, webpage designer/coder, website moderators, movie "cammers," audio recorders or "cappers" who captured motion picture audio, "encoders" (who sharpened, straightened, and edited video), and "syncers" (who synchronized the video and audio files).
Just some of the movies pirated by iMAGiNE include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Captain America: The First Avenger, Little Fockers, Avatar, The Tourist and Iron Man 2. Also mentioned in the court document was pirated software, namely seeding Windows 7 without the "authorization of the copyright holder".
The indictment accuses iMAGiNE members of distributing "thousands" of copyrighted works and supporting their efforts through a system of websites, memberships and PayPal donations.
User Comments: 33
Got something to say? Post a comment-
Not saying you did Ike. Simply pointing out that no matter what this isnt going away. Yea Im sure you pay less for your product. Guess what, not everyone can. Some ppl barely have enough internet to be able to download AOL. Let alone using web based services. So those ppl end up having to pay what is asked. When the Internet becomes a standard like water and electricity then the masses who can order online who previously couldnt, will do so.
-
Valid point as it may be, it is also a argument for the stealing of media too, because in the end, why would people want to buy something if most of the purchase isnt going towards the artist?
It's not that simple... some contracts may say the artist gets 20%, some may say the get 50% after recouping expenses. Some may say the label gets the first million then the artist gets everything after that... who knows. Although as far as I know, if you want the most money to go to the artist, go see them live.
Never said I stole anything :pHonestly spotify and netflix pretty much satisfy my needs.
But if you wish to keep overspending on songs and albums to satisfy the greedy upper level management and raising their pay while the lower mans pay stays the same (its as people in this thread have been saying to me) then all means do so.
Spotify and netflix work for me too... and we never even got into the quality of a pirated movie from a camera being held in a theater. Watching Avatar through a handheld cam isn't quite the same experience as actually being in the theater.
I never said upper mgmt was greedy and the low guy never gets a raise. I said cheap labor and small benefits are the first thing to get cut. It's easier to raise cafeteria prices a little than it is to dock someone's pay. Mgmt picks the cost savings measures that hurt people the least when they have to make changes. Anyone would prefer to pay an extra $.10 on their morning coffee than to see someone get laid off.
And when it gets bad enough that people do get their pay cut, then it matters much more to the little guy. If everyone takes a 10% cut, then the CEO loses $50,000 /year, while Bob in accounting only loses $4,000. But it's still harder on Bob, because he has far less disposable income.
My point wasn't that mgmt is greedy... it's just that when you steal from them, you steal from ALL of them. And the little guys need the money more than the execs.
-
@Mike
No matter how hard you try you will never reach them. It is a breakdown of moral values. They will continue to justify thier theft. All the preaching in the world will not change them. They have to realize thier mistakes themselves before they will change. It will always boil down to right and wrong. Yes there are shades of grey in some circumstances. But not in this case. For some it will take losing the ability to get internet. For others a wise word from a trusted friend will do the trick. They feel it is a "victimless" crime so they feel no guilt. They try and rationalize that the rich can afford for them to download X movie or song, that the rich have too much money. They are more Hood, Then Robin Hood. They only steal to benefit themselves. Just take solace in the fact that eventually they will be caught no matter what the fancy trick they use to disguise thier presence on the web. It takes an honest effort to remain truthful. They just choose to not be honest, so they deal with the consiquences.
-
Kevin82485 said:
One way that I feel movie studios could curb pirating to some degree, is be more flexible with digital copies and give higher quality digital copies that they include with DVD/Blu Ray releases. I recently purchased and movie with a digital copy and was appalled at the video quality.
On top of that, I became extremely aggravated when I was surprised with the fact that I could only save the digital copy to one device. I have a PC, tablet, and smartphone. However, I made the "mistake" of first copying it to my PC hard drive rather using the "option" that allows me to stream it through the Internet to any device using their app. Seems like the obvious choice for anyone, but I didn't know I would only be given one digital license. It wasn't clearly stated any where what the choices were.
This instantly sent me into rage mode, and made me want to pirate the movie out of spite, to stick it to those greedy bastards. If the digital copy were better and easier to use I would be perfectly happy to pay for it, but shit like this is partly what makes people pirate.
Look at Louis C. K., he sells every one of his stand up videos and audio cds for $5 each, and they are DRM free, and you can do what ever you want with them. He's made close to $2 million since first starting this a little over a year ago. And he's just one dude who caters to a much smaller audience than The Avengers. People are willing to pay for his material because he's not an ass about using it or getting it.
This isn't THE answer, but a small part to solve a bigger problem.
-
@Mike
No matter how hard you try you will never reach them. It is a breakdown of moral values.
Whats immoral is charging a dollar for a song because you know you can get away with it, then whining that you arent making enough money when your song sells tens of millions of times.
If I could afford music, I would gladly pay for an offline copy. As it is I will continue to use spotify. and netflix.
And you are right, piracy is immoral. but honestly I wouldnt be left with any other choice if not for online content. If I ever make some extra money I will send a check directly to the memebers of any band I have listened alot to for all the times I heard it free on the internet.
-
Whats immoral is charging a dollar for a song because you know you can get away with it, then whining that you arent making enough money when your song sells tens of millions of times.Well they do have to pay for the other songs that didn't sell. lol
-
The argument pro or con, between pirating and buying, can go on ad infinitum...! (*)(see fine print below).
It that aspect it's similar to a religious discussion pro or con, as to the existence of a "supreme being". (Personally, and with all humility, I normally only credit myself the slightly less expansive powers of being a lowly, earth bound, "superb being"
! That notwithstanding, I think it's time to merge these debate topics, into one huge, unwinnable, argument.
Do you think Jesus would condone illegal copying or downloading of intellectual property belonging to someone else? I think not!
In fact it was years of arguing against prevailing human ethics and values, that put him on the cross in the first place.
Fast forward to the 21st century.........
Now, if the next movie FBI copyright warning I see, goes something like, "Jesus wouldn't want you to copy this movie, so don't do it, or you're going straight to hell"!
I'll know where they go the idea. And furthermore, now that the concept has been put forth in a physical and tangible manner, technically I hold the copyright. How do you like them apples Eves?:eek:
So that means, if that shows up in the next movie I see, I'm going to know where the "fibby" got it. And then, I'm coming after all your miserable a**es, with the most obnoxious copyright troll lawyer, I can dupe into thinking I actually have the funds to compensate for his effort.:p
(*)In fact, it actually has. The Roman Catholic Church has texts, and gives mass in Latin, for that very reason, to avoid illiterate peasants infringing. Meanwhile, the protestants think it was their idea to have their church services in their mother tongue, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt, "reverse psychology" does indeed, work like a charm.(y)
-
avoidz said:
And the reckless banking corporations got how long for breaking the world's economy? Nothing but golden handshakes.
Most Popular
| Trending | Featured |
Featured on Mice
Subscribe to TechSpot
Get free exclusive content, learn about new features and breaking tech news.