Sentencing of Jeremiah Mondello to Federal Prison Highlights High-Stakes
Battle Over Sales of Pirated Software via Online Auction Sites
WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The increasingly
high-stakes fight to stop the sale of pirated software on Internet auction
sites reached a new milestone today with the sentencing of Jeremiah
Mondello to 48 months in federal prison, three years supervised release
following jail time, and 150 hours of community service per year. Further,
Mondello's personal computers and 220K in cash were seized as part of the
sentencing mandates.
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), which initiated
the action against the notorious eBay pirate, also announced six new
lawsuits against sellers of illegal software on auction sites.
With the new cases announced today, SIIA has filed 32 lawsuits in 2008
as part of its ramped-up effort to stop the illegal sale of software
online. Through its aggressive Auction Litigation Program, SIIA filed nine
lawsuits in February, eight in March, nine in May and six today. Each of
the new suits was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District
of California on behalf of SIIA member company Adobe Systems Incorporated.
"Mondello is a whiz-kid who used his smarts and savvy to rip off
software makers and consumers," noted Keith Kupferschmid, SVP of
Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement for SIIA. "We are fortunate that
he has been stopped, but there are hundreds more like him running illegal
operations on eBay and other sites. The Mondello case demonstrates that
these pirates won't simply get a slap on the wrist when caught -- they very
well may end up doing serious time in federal prison."
"We applaud the DOJ and DHS for their work in bringing Mondello to
justice. They did an outstanding job of tracking down Mondello and bringing
him to justice. Their action is an important step in protecting
unsuspecting consumers, software makers and legitimate software sellers,"
Kupferschmid added.
SIIA was responsible for providing the DOJ with information that led to
Mondello, a resident of Oregon, pleading guilty in May to counts of
copyright infringement, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. SIIA
began investigating Mondello in 2007 and later turned the case over to the
Department of Justice (DOJ). Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crime Center. Mondello used
stolen bank account information to create more than 40 fictitious eBay and
PayPal identities to sell pirated software via the auction site. His
fraudulent sales amounted to a five to six figure sales volume.
"We've been much more aggressive in filing lawsuits this year and
intend to send a clear message that auctioning counterfeit and unauthorized
software will lead to serious penalties," Kupferschmid continued. Today's
six new lawsuits will be followed by even more as the year goes on."
The most recent lawsuits charged all of the following with knowingly
selling software illegally on eBay: Nathanael S. Landsteiner, Fairmont, MN;
John Hoyle and Gail La Fortune, Senoia, GA; Gennadiy Barbin, Boise, ID;
Tamara Irby, Nathalie, VA; Trisha Carter/Maggie Grace Designs; Denham
Springs, LA; and, Andreh Lee, Elmhurst, NY.
To date, the SIIA program has led to judgments and settlements against
illegal eBay sellers as well as sellers on other websites dealing in
counterfeit, OEM, unbundled, unauthorized education, and other versions of
software not authorized for Internet resale. Damages paid by defendants
have run as high as several hundred thousand dollars. SIIA also has
successfully tracked and pursued the upstream sources of some of these
products, and will continue to do so.
The SIIA Auction Litigation Program aims to educate buyers and sellers
on auction sites as to the harms caused all parties by illegal software
resale. Sellers can be prosecuted and buyers can be faced with viruses, no
technical support and no recourse. In addition to the auction piracy
lawsuits, SIIA has also sought to protect legitimate sellers and
unsuspecting buyers by publishing software buying guides for auction sites,
and implementing a certification program for software sellers (Certified
Software Resellers) to help steer consumers of auctioned software to
sellers who have promised to sell only legal software.
About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal
trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA
provides global services in government relations, business development,
corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 550
leading software and information companies. For further information, visit:
http://www.siia.net.
Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Keith Kupferschmid
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=40837
SOURCE Software & Information Industry Association
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Related links:
http://www.siia.net/
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/803080.html/
CONTACT:
Brian Kaminski, Rational PR, +1-202-429-4942,
for SIIA; or Scott Bain, SIIA Litigation Counsel,
+1-202-789-4492; or Eileen Bramlet, SIIA Communications,
+1-202-789-4469, ebramlet@siia.net
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