BuysUSA.com's owner pleaded guilty to selling nearly US$20 million worth of pirated software through the mail, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday.
The Web site sold more than $2.47 million of copyrighted software, resulting in potential losses of nearly $20 million to the software developers, the DOJ said.
Danny Ferrer, 37, of Lakeland, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy and one count of criminal copyright infringement.
Ferrer, who is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 25, could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Ferrer also agreed to forfeit numerous airplanes, a helicopter, boats and cars purchased with the profits from the Web site. The forfeited property includes two Cessna airplanes, a RotorWay International helicopter, a 2005 Hummer, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette, two 2005 Chevrolet Corvettes, a 2005 Lincoln Navigator, an IGATE G500 LE Flight Simulator, a 1984 28-foot Marinette boat and an ambulance.
The DOJ called Ferrer "one of the largest commercial online distributors of pirated software" in the U.S.
From late 2002 to October 2005, Ferrer and other people operated BuysUSA.com and sold illegal copies of copyrighted software from companies such as Adobe Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc., the DOJ said. The Web site sold the software at prices substantially below the suggested retail price, DOJ said.
The software was reproduced on CDs and distributed through the mail, and the Web site included a serial number that allowed the purchaser to activate and use the product, the DOJ said.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down BuysUSA.com in October 2005.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Download a free 30–day trial and experience how XenDesktop delivers a pristine, on–demand desktop experience to users on whatever device they choose, while cutting IT complexity and costs.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts
This white paper provides guidance on how to develop a strategic approach to managing and monitoring logs, a key function required for compliance with many regulatory mandates and a critical defense against security threats.
Download now! »
Learn about the processes and technologies that support security information management (SIM) operations, as well as the business case for SIM. The series examines different options for implementing SIM and gives you evaluation criteria for selecting the best option for your organization.
Download now! »
Learn the strategies, actions, and capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations employ and technologies they choose to obtain superior performance against various security performance metrics. This report provides guidelines for identifying which security solutions to consume as a MSS and defines best practices for choosing and managing MSSPs.
Download now! »
1 Recommendation
