Sentencing of Jeremiah Mondello to Federal Prison Highlights High-Stakes Battle Over Sales of Pirated Software via Online Auction Sites WASHINGTON, July 23
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:
www.siia.net.
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Keith Kupferschmid
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SOURCE Software & Information Industry Association
