Pandora's Cube Pirate Sentenced to Jail Time; Computer and Video Game Industry Applauds Sentence.WASHINGTON -- The Entertainment Software Association (ESA 1. (architecture) ESA - Enterprise Systems Architecture. 2. (body) ESA - European Space Agency. ) today applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for handing down a sentence including prison time for Hitesh Patel, an employee of Pandora's Cube, a major retailer of pirated game software and modified game consoles in the Washington, DC area. Judge Peter J. Messitte ordered Patel to serve eight months for his crime, four months in jail and four months of home detention, in addition to 2 years of supervised release. "We are grateful for the work of U.S. law enforcement and prosecutors for bringing this defendant to justice," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the trade association representing the U.S. computer and video game publishers. "Sentences of this magnitude send a strong message to the pirate community that intellectual property theft is a serious crime with serious consequences." Patel, 31, of College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 24,657 at the 2000 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S. , pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit felony copyright infringement Noun 1. copyright infringement - a violation of the rights secured by a copyright infringement of copyright plagiarisation, plagiarization, piracy, plagiarism - the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own and to violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly (DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) A U.S. law enacted in late 1998 that provides penalties for developing hardware or software that overrides copy protection schemes for digital media. ). Patel managed one of the Pandora's Cube locations and served as technician for all three stores. He assembled and modified Microsoft Xbox video game consoles This is a list of video game consoles by the era they appeared in. Eras are named based on the dominant console type of the era (even though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type). Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. , turning them into what Pandora's Cube called "Super Xboxes." These "Super Xboxes" defeated the Xbox's copyright protection system and permitted the user to avoid purchasing and paying for legitimate video games. Three other Pandora's Cube employees are expected to be sentenced by Judge Messitte next month: the owner of Pandora's Cube, Biren Amin, of Laurel, MD; and two managers of Pandora's Cube stores, Mrugesh Amin of Laurel, MD, and Herbie Walker of Hyattsville, MD. The cases against Pandora's Cube employees were the result of a joint effort of the United States Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section ("CCIPS CCIPS Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (Justice Department) CCIPS Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section "), the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, and the United States Bureau of Immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"). Enacted in 1998, the DMCA prohibits the manufacture and distribution of products or services that circumvent technological protection measures designed to prevent unauthorized access to and copying of copyrighted materials. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $7.3 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2004, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com. |
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