NY man gets 1 year in prison for 'X-Men' piracy

[Fuji Vice]

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A New York man has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for illegally uploading and distributing a copy of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" before the movie's premiere.

Forty-nine-year-old Gilberto Sanchez was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles federal court. The judge also imposed a year of supervised release and numerous computer restrictions.

Sanchez pleaded guilty in March to one count of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution. Prosecutors say he admitted uploading a "workprint" copy of the 2009 film about one month before it was released in theaters, then publicizing the upload on two websites.

Prosecutors said in court documents that the film proliferated like wildfire throughout the Internet, resulting in up to millions of infringements.

Sanchez has a prior conviction for a similar offense.

There is no reason why this guy should be going to jail for pirating a movie. Seriously, the prison system is crowded enough with people who commit crimes that actually hurt others. Why fill it with uploaders as well? Thank God I live in Canada where we're cool about things like this.

 

[Citan]

I agree, it's a little over the line.

Then again, in Canada, especially in Québec, if you kill someone, you're free the next year. No joke. In 2004, a 14 year old teenager, called Sébastien Lacasse, got killed by some deranged psycho and his friends. They were all freed the following year. What makes it even more ridiculous is the fact that they had evidence, from the guy's MSN Chats, that he was planning to kill long before he did it. And when he did, it felt like it was a totally normal thing and would do it over again.

What about the Norbourg Scandal in 2005? Vincent Lacroix stole money from nearly 9200 investors. He deserved a life sentence, yet he won't.

From Wikipedia:

Criminal trial

Lacroix's criminal trial took place in 2007 and lasted 58 days. Lacroix did not have legal defense aid after a court ruling. In November 2007, he requested 30 witnesses to testify in in his place, but this request was rejected by the trial judge, Claude Leblond. Lacroix claimed that he could not testify himself because his credibility was attacked. On December 11, 2007 Lacroix was found guilty of all 51 counts. On January 28, 2008, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined C$255,000. On June 6, 2008, he received permission to appeal his sentence.
Further charges in June 2008

On June 18, 2008, a further 922 criminal charges were laid against six people involved in the scandal, including Lacroix and former Quebec provincial civil servant Jean Renaud. Charges included fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, falsifying documents and conspiracy to falsify documents, and money laundering. Renaud was fired by the Province hours before his arrest.

Lacroix, who was released during the summer of 2009, went through a transition home and performed several hours of community work. On September 21, he returned to trial for the additional criminal charges and pleaded guilty on September 21. He was immediately jailed by Justice Richard Wagner of the Quebec Superior Court. On October 9, 2009, he was sentenced to 13 years in jail to be served consecutively with his previous 5 year term. If he gets early parole, Lacroix could be out of jail by the fall of 2011.


Criminals are far more protected than their victims. Great logic. So I'm glad the US don't fuck around with criminals, no matter the nature of their crimes.

Just saying...

 

[Fuji Vice]

Yeah, we've got some problems here in Canada for sure. Young Offenders Act is a total joke and needs to either be removed or completely overhauled. I didn't remember that story but I did as soon as you mentioned it. I wonder if that guy and his friends have killed anyone else yet?

 

[Citan]

Not yet, but it's a miracle they didn't. The parents of the victim mentioned that one of the murderers walked by the house and, in a form of sarcastic salute, waved his hand at them when he saw them.

I remember Harper wanting to ban the Youth offenders Act some time ago, one of the few good things he would have done for Canada. Yet, it was deemed "inhuman", and was quickly dropped.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Politics is politics. They worry about losing too many votes if they get rid of it rather than worrying about the people that it affects. That's pretty sad but unfortunately its also true.

 

[TroyTheAverage]

The problem I have with this is, the movie lost no money. It still has made over $370 million worldwide in theatrical release. That is not including DVD/BluRay sales. Piracy is not hurting these companies as much as they say they are. One year in prison is a tad excessive. Hell even a day in jail would have been excessive.

 

[Citan]

The problem I have with this is, the movie lost no money. It still has made over $370 million worldwide in theatrical release. That is not including DVD/BluRay sales. Piracy is not hurting these companies as much as they say they are. One year in prison is a tad excessive. Hell even a day in jail would have been excessive.

It's the movie industry. More money is never enough.