International software pirates sentenced

May 9, 2005

If you live in the U.K. and are thinking about a career in software piracy, you might wanna think again. British autorities have sentenced three individuals for running a crime ring called "DrinkOrDie". After a 3 year investigation the authorities there say they cost the software industry millions of dollars.

DrinkOrDie became famous when they released a pirated version of Windows 95 before it came out in 1995. They also cracked apps like Norton Anti-Virus, Microsoft Word, Excel and various other game and design software.

On Friday, Alex Bell, 29, a banker, was sentenced to 2Â½ years, and Steven Dowd, 39, who is unemployed, was given two years. At a trial earlier this year, both were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Mark Vent, 31, a computer network administrator, was sentenced to 18 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.

"They think of themselves like latter-day Robin Hoods or sea pirates like Johnny Depp in the film Pirates of the Caribbean," prosecuting lawyer Bruce Houlder said, according to Reuters. He said the gang - corporate executives, university administrators and technology managers - were just "plain thieves."

The prosecution followed what Houlder called unprecedented cooperation between U.S. and British authorities. They arrested 70 suspects in 12 countries.

For the full story, go to news.yahoo.com and check it out.

Source: Usa Today