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Video Game Industry Applauds Game Pirate’s Sentence
Game pirate sentenced for criminal copyright infringement
August 14, 2007 – Washington, DC – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) applauded the recent jail sentence imposed on a game pirate who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) earlier this year for video game piracy. Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Timothy Wayne Hall of Mount Vernon, IL to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and payment of a $1,200 fine for selling pirated computer and video game software through his website.
“Sentences with significant jail time send a clear message to the piracy community that they cannot hide from the law,” said Michael D. Gallagher, president of the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “Piracy costs the entertainment software industry over $3 billion a year and the ESA will support efforts to reduce such theft in its many forms. We commend and thank law enforcement and prosecutors for their work.”
Between 2001 and 2006 Hall earned more than $266,000 owning and operating a website that sold pirated game software for the Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2 consoles. The FBI executed a search warrant on Mr. Hall’s home in Illinois in October, 2006 and arrested him in February, 2007. In May, 2007, Mr. Hall pleaded guilty to one count of felony-level criminal copyright infringement. The FBI’s Washington Field Office handled the investigation and the Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in prosecuting the case.
The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7.4 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2006, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.
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