[free-sklyarov] Newsbytes Story: Man Indicted For Auctioning Pirated Software On Ebay

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Man Indicted For Auctioning Pirated Software On Ebay

By Staff, Newsbytes.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA., U.S.A.,
29 Nov 2001, 12:40 PM CST

****Man Indicted For Auctioning Pirated Software On Ebay 11/29/01
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA., U.S.A., 2001 NOV 29 (NB) - By Staff,
Newsbytes. A Los Angeles man was indicted Tuesday for
allegedly using Ebay to auction pirated copies of several different
Adobe Systems software programs.

A federal grand jury indicted Eric Niemi, 35, for allegedly selling copies
of Adobe Photoshop 5.0, Adobe Pagemaker 6.5, and Adobe Premiere 5.1
to Ebay users under a number of online aliases.

According to the indictment, the software packages Niemi offered
were in fact unauthorized reproductions of the popular authoring
programs the defendant had copied using a CD burner.

Postal inspectors allege Niemi received payment for the goods
using numerous post office boxes in the Los Angeles area, registered
under the aliases of Scott Falco and Erik Knight.

The indictment stemmed from a one-year investigation by the
U.S. Postal Service and the Computer Hacking and Intellectual
Property Unit of the United States Attorney's Office. Investigators
were prompted by complaints lodged with the Software Information
and Industry Association and the FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint
Center.

If convicted, Niemi faces up to five years in jail and a $250,000
fine for each violation. Under federal sentencing guidelines, however,
the actual terms of the settlement would be left to the discretion
of the court. His arraignment is scheduled for later today.

Niemi’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com

12:40  CST

(20011129
/WIRES ONLINE, LEGAL, BUSINESS, TELECOM/PIRACY/PHOTO)

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