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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Cyber piracy is both a growing threat and a difficult crime to pursue for companies across the globe.
But the example made of one cyber pirate might act as a disincentive to others.
A 30-year-old Czech man, known as Jakub F., has become the Czech Republic’s first convicted software pirate, and the companies that had him prosecuted have opted to make his punishment fit the crime, the BBC reported.
Jakub was pursued by Sony Music Entertainment, HBO Europe, Microsoft Corp. and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. for putting copies of Microsoft Windows 7 and 8 and other content on filesharing sites.
The Business Software Alliance and its legal representation ordered him to pay damages of more than $200,000, but he was unable to pay.
So the corporate giants decided instead to find suitable retribution and turned Jakub into a YouTube star.
The companies asked Jakub to take part in an anti-piracy video and said he would be let off the fine if the video was viewed more than 200,000 times.
Lucky for Jakub the video has been viewed more than 500,000 times.