This is how you attempt to combat piracy. Now they just need to find a way to track who created the first set of images of a game and they can send a real message. Although that kind of power would make me sad as it would become even more difficult to find and play old obscure games.

I agree. There's too much effort wasted trying to fight copyright infringement while there are much more serious criminals to fight.

I second this. Jail time was a bit harsh. Just heavy fines would have done, not taking up a jail cell's spot from a murder or someone who more deserves that spot.

You do the crime, you do the time !

QFT.

Maybe if they took the prices down a bit it might help.

Lowering price to gain market share rarely works when it comes to piracy.  It's almost as bad as loss leading.

I disagree.  Fines alone could be seen as merely "if they catch you, you lose your ill-gotten gains"; and considering what the odds against an individual pirate being caught are, that if makes it hardly a deterrent at all. 

Some jail time for massive offenses is appropriate (these guys had for-profit illegal businesses), and the jail sentences are short -- less than one year and barely more than a year, respectively; that is not what I would call a huge burden on our jail system.  It's not like they're arresting these guys by the hundreds like they do with marijuana.

Yeah !!! Let's put all those evil pirates in jail so they maybe they'll get killed in their, or at least get raped and catch AIDS or some other deseases and die a bit later.

Seriously, the Kifah Maswadi guy resold some cheap chinese made handleld console emulating a bunch of old NES games... truely and evil mastermind destroying the gaming industry. He should pay a fine, sure, but jail is still a little harsh.

Those sentences for piracy are a bit crazy sometimes. If you want to get some free games, steal a copy at the store, don't copyright infringe by downloading it on the internet. Same thing if you want to make a profit, you're better off selling games that "fell off a truck" than illegal copies. Copyright infringement is evil, stealing is not (it's still kinda bad, but not as bad).

Alright, while I hate pirates and piracy, however, we must make sure the punishment fits the crime. These people don't have the intent to harm others with their actions, nor are all pirates(with this case being an exception) attempting to steal or defraud on a large scale.

An 18 year old hacker/child being raped daily in a federal prison, for stealing a copy of DMC4, is not my idea of justice.


Now, that said, in this case, I feel the sentences might have been warranted, considering the level of the violation.

However much we hate and despise these hackers, we shouldn't cheer when a person's life be ruined for a victimless crime they committed, while setting in front of their computer, in their room, watching Futurama and munching cheetos.

Large scale piracy, or piracy for profit is a completely different beef, though, and in this case, I'm not completely reverted to jail time. My fear is this may be a slippery slope which could lead to smaller, and indeed smalltime offenders catching the same charges.