The RIAA says that they have proved again that the law takes counterfeiting seriously because a Texas man was sentenced to 17 ½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and smuggling pirated cd's and other crimes.
A press release on the RIAA site:
RIAA Anti-Piracy Efforts Lead to 17 Years for Music Counterfeiter |
Mr. Williamson was initially investigated by law enforcement, with the cooperation of the RIAA Texas office, in 1998 for manufacturing and selling pirate CD-Rs. Among other acts, Mr. Williamson was using MP3-encoded music to burn 26 Beatles albums onto one CD-R. The discs were then sold for $40 through his online business, First Class Computers and Online Connection.
The sentence was further impacted after Williamson also pled guilty to receipt of child pornography, receipt of obscene material, and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. During a search warrant executed at Williamson's home in June 1998 for sound recording violations, authorities discovered more than 100 pornographic and obscene images of children on his computers.
Hmm I don't think he got 17 ½ years of prison just by selling those beatle cd's, but for the child pornography... Now the RIAA makes it look as if it were for piracy.
Source: RIAA
