Prague, Nov 24 (CTK) – The first computer pirate convicted in the Czech Republic has agreed on an alternative sentence to create and promote a video clip with his life story as he was not able to cover the damage of 5.7 million crowns to software producers, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has said.
The pirate, Jakub F., who was given a suspended sentence, must achieve at least 200,000 visits to the video clip, according to an out-of-court settlement with the damaged party, represented by the BSA.
Jakub F., 30, caused damage to the producers by sharing software. Using a nickname, he participated in forums where he copied links for the downloading of popular commercial softwares, such as Windows 7 and 8 and other programmes protected by copyright that he placed on servers with shared content.
A district court gave him a three-year suspended sentence and ordered the forfeiture of his PC, an external hard disk and the DVD media seized in his home.
Since he is not able to cover the whole damage, he made a deal with the BSA on an alternative punishment. He paid only a minor part of the financial damage and should compensate the rest by raising awareness of prevention and risks of software piracy.
He cooperated on the production of “The Story of My Piracy” video programme that he would promote on YouTube where it must be seen 200,000 times at least. If he failed, he would face a fine counted in millions of crowns.
The video recording can be watched on the website www.mojepiratstvi.cz and on Facebook and YouTube social networks. Jakub F. alone plays in the professionally shot clip, based on a script he approved that depicts his “pirate life story” in a realistic way.
According to the BSA´s latest analysis, 34 percent of computer programmes are used illegally in the Czech Republic, which annually causes the damage of 3.6 billion crowns to software producers.
($1=25.422 crowns)
