Peterson Receives One of Nation's Toughest Sentences for Illegally Selling Software Developed by Autodesk and Others

Autodesk has announced that Nathan Peterson, a 26-year old California resident and owner and operator of iBackups, was sentenced on September 8, 2006, to seven years and three months in federal prison, and required to pay $5.4 million in restitution after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal copyright infringement for illegally copying and selling pirated software worth from approximately $7 million to $20 million. Peterson profited from selling pirated software, including applications developed legitimately by Autodesk, Adobe, Macromedia and Symantec. Peterson must also forfeit any assets related to the infringement offences as well as any assets traceable to proceeds from the offences.

The sentencing occurred in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

'Peterson has said that most of the software was sold to individual consumers, although he did sell to some companies and to at least one school district,' said Sandy Boulton, director of License Compliance at Autodesk.

'We commend the FBI and Department of Justice for their efforts and hope that consumers will purchase products direct from the developers or from their local authorised resellers to eliminate the risks of engaging in illegal activities'.

In 2003, the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) first alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to suspected software piracy in this case.

iBackups was selling pirated copies of software over the Internet claiming that they were 'backup copies' to be used by software owners in the event of system crashes.

The FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) permanently shut down the website Peterson was hosting to sell the unauthorised software.

On December 13, 2005, Peterson reached his plea agreement with Judge T S Ellis in Virginia and was released on his own recognisance.

Unauthorised reproduction or distribution of copyrighted material is investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Individuals who willfully infringe copyright by distributing or reproducing infringing material risk criminal prosecution under 18 USC - 2319.

First-time offenders convicted of a criminal violation of copyright laws face up to five years in federal prison, plus the payment of restitution, forfeiture, and fines.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the organisation representing some of the world's leading software developers including Autodesk, provided assistance to the investigation.

The BSA recently launched a new website designed to raise awareness about online fraud while encouraging individuals to submit their own stories of how they were 'duped' into purchasing pirated software online.

As part of its License Compliance Program, Autodesk educates customers and the general public about software piracy and its damaging effects on the economy and product innovation - while seeking legal recourse against copyright infringers.

Customers are offered toolkits and information to help them implement sound software management policies.