A music copyright case in which the RIAA assisted the US Justice Department finds piracy group guilty of committing criminal copyright infringement.
The Apocalypse Production Crew, a group that shares illegal music downloads on the Internet, has been found guilty of distributing illegal copies of CDS and albums.
By: Pete Murphy
May 25, 2008 16:23 PM GMT
With help from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the US Department of Justice has successfully won a jury verdict against a group accused of online illegal music file sharing.
One of the defendants' in the case, 21-year-old Mark Shumaker, faces a maximum prison sentence of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
The Recording Industry Assoc. of America (RIAA), which said it helped develop evidence against APC, applauded the jury verdict.
"For the first time ever, a criminal online music piracy case went to trial, and the jury rendered a swift and unanimous verdict," said Brad Buckles, executive vice president for the RIAA. "The crimes committed here -- as well as the harm to the music community -- are severe, and so are the consequences. We congratulate and thank the U.S. Attorney's office for its work on this case."
APC was among the pioneers in music piracy according to the blog TorrentFreak. The group is considered by many to be the first to coordinate pre-release uploading of MP3 files. Shumaker is accused of participating in the group for nearly a year. The government has convicted 15 APC members so far.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which is in the process of issuing subpoenas for the identities of individual file swappers as a prelude to filing civil copyright infringement suits, welcomed news of the guilty plea.
What makes APC members different than average Lime Wire users is the group was sophisticated and specialized in releasing copyright music on the Web.
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