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Saturday, May 24, 2008

Member of Online Piracy Group Faces Prison Term

A member of an online piracy group has been convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and faces up to five years in prison.

Barry Gitarts, 25, from New York, was convicted Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition to up to five years in prison, Gitarts could face a fine of US$250,000 and three years of probation.

Gitarts was a key member of the Internet music piracy group Apocalypse Production Crew (APC) from at least June 2003 through April 2004. Gitarts paid for and administered a computer server located in Texas that APC group members used to upload and download hundreds of thousands of copies of pirated music, movies, software and video games.

The Gitarts case is part of an ongoing federal investigation into the organized piracy groups responsible for the distribution of movies, software, games and music on the Internet.

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