We’re sure no-one reading this ever engages in the illegal downloading of entertainment, but here’s a cautionary tale all the same.
A man has been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of recording TV shows and distributing free links through peer-to-peer file sharing sites.
Hong Kong Customs and the Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau raided the 41-year-old’s Sheung Shui address last Thursday, seizing TV recording and computer equipment said to be worth around HKD18,000.
The authorities were apparently alerted to the situation after a member of the public complained that someone had been offering P2P seed files in a discussion forum.
After analysis and tracing, the team eventually found that the source of the links was a local address.
Like an absolute bastard, the unemployed man had been recording TV shows, editing out the commercials and sharing them online for free.
He apparently frequently changed his IP address to avoid detection.
According to the Copyright Ordinance, anyone distributing material they don’t have rights to can face a maximum of four years in jail and a fine of HKD50,000 for each infringement, even if it is not for personal gain.
Photo: Illustration by olle svensson via Flickr
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