AfterDawn: News

Warez group leader pleads guilty to copyright infringement

Hew Raymond Griffiths, the leader of the warez group "Drink or Die" and who has already spent 3 years fighting extradition to the US from his home in Australia, has pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement” and “criminal copyright infringement” and could possibly face 10 years in prison along with a $500,000 fine.

Griffiths, who had never even visited the US became the first foreigner to be extradicted to the US to face charges of copyright infringement. He had spent 3 years in an Australian prison fighting the extradition, but a court in Australia ruled against him earlier this year.



Back in 1999, Griffiths proclaimed that he was in control of more than 20 of top warez servers worldwide and made the bold claim that he would never be caught.

In 2001, he and a few others were busted during US Custom raids under the banner "Operation Buccaneer" and Griffiths was identified as the leader of DrinkOrDie.

In Feburary he was arraigned in court and yesterday pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Source:
TorrentFreak

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Apr 2007 15:17

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• 28 comments

• borhan9

  Quote:Back in 1999, Griffiths proclaimed that he was in control of more than 20 of top warez servers worldwide and made the bold claim that he would never be caught.After saying that you of course shoot yourself in the foot. I think your head became to big for your feet :)

  22.4.2007 15:31 #1

• filter96

  What do you expect from a edited

  22.4.2007 18:12 #2

• OzMick

  No longer applies ^^

  22.4.2007 19:08 #3

• webe123

  Mabye this will make people that have warez servers think twice before comming up on the media mafia radar screen.
  
  If he would have just layed low instead of making stupid and obnoxious comments like he did, he might not be in jail today.
  
  I'll bet he now wishes he had not of been so cocky back then, now that he is facing prison time.

  23.4.2007 02:09 #4

• tam2oo5

  The guy has not yet been sentenced, read it closely you will see he faces upto 10 years. Damn he was stupid to say stuff like he did, but think about the cash this guy has made. For the U.S goverment to fine him $500,000 , this guy must be worth a fortune. I wonder what will happen to him, i kinda wanna see him get sent down just to prove him wrong lol then on the other hand hope he gets free.
  
  Ahwell guess the judge will be the decider of that.

  23.4.2007 02:22 #5

• webe123

  Originally posted by tam2oo5:The guy has not yet been sentenced, read it closely you will see he faces upto 10 years. Damn he was stupid to say stuff like he did, but think about the cash this guy has made. For the U.S goverment to fine him $500,000 , this guy must be worth a fortune. I wonder what will happen to him, i kinda wanna see him get sent down just to prove him wrong lol then on the other hand hope he gets free.
  
  Ahwell guess the judge will be the decider of that.
  Well he might have been worth a fortune, but it does not do him much good in prison! And I know he faces up to 10 years, that is my whole point.

  23.4.2007 03:21 #6

• tam2oo5

  but thats probably the max he can receive, most likely he would face something like 5 years. This of course would give him a early realease bail in the terms that he has been well behaved. Guess alot of people think about this differently , but when theres like a few million dollars involved i know id think about going to prison for a few years.
  
  Just think in a few years he walks free with all his legal cash gaining interest in a bank somewhere.
  
  Would you do it?
  
  
  

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  23.4.2007 03:36 #7

• pichriso

  Originally posted by tam2oo5:The guy has not yet been sentenced, read it closely you will see he faces upto 10 years. Damn he was stupid to say stuff like he did, but think about the cash this guy has made. For the U.S goverment to fine him $500,000 , this guy must be worth a fortune. I wonder what will happen to him, i kinda wanna see him get sent down just to prove him wrong lol then on the other hand hope he gets free.
  
  Ahwell guess the judge will be the decider of that.I guess you should "read it closely". "He had spent 3 years in an Australian prison fighting the extradition, but a court in Australia ruled against him earlier this year."
  now he will probably spend a year, mabey 2 in a us prison because of Time Already Served.

  23.4.2007 04:54 #8

• georgeluv

  he was the leader of drink or die since the mid 90's and they just now are getting him onto american soil, thats what we call efficentcy.
  
  even in america hell get 6 months tops, it already happened to that american torrent guy.

  23.4.2007 06:30 #9

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by tam2oo5:but thats probably the max he can receive, most likely he would face something like 5 years. This of course would give him a early realease bail in the terms that he has been well behaved. Guess alot of people think about this differently , but when theres like a few million dollars involved i know id think about going to prison for a few years.
  
  Just think in a few years he walks free with all his legal cash gaining interest in a bank somewhere.
  
  Would you do it?if it was just "prison" but you have rapes and beatings within thos gray walls and all they can do is sort them and add more time to them so in all....unless its a few billion I would rather not...

  23.4.2007 07:02 #10

• JonnyCabs

  There are a couple of points to clear up here.
  
  1. Upto 10 years in prison will most likely be 1/2 that as he has already pleaded guilty (always a good idea if you ARE actually guilty)AND is almost certain to be less due to "time already served"
  
  2. $500,000 fine - this is the max possible and is dependant on the severity of his actions and the profit made from them - If he HAS made a fortune from his actions then ALL this could be seized as being "illegally gained", and then he could receive a fine on-top.
  
  It's possible that he could do some prison time and come out a penniless man.
  
  No less than he deserves, for being such a loud-mouth and giving himself away to the authorities.

  23.4.2007 07:40 #11

• fukewe

  I hope the guy gets off. Not saying it is ok to break the laws and he shouldnt be punnished for that. But I think it is a crime for a few fat cats in the entertainment music. To get off ripping off the public every day. By overcharging for there media. People would be more likely to buy there products if they would drop the price a little and worry less about how rich they are getting.

  23.4.2007 08:31 #12

• poeg

  Like always:
  
  If he'd defrauded shareholders, it would be 2 years at the country club and 20% of his ill gotten gains in penalties.
  
  If he was just defrauding customers, he might have landed the cover of Forbes or a spot on Oprah.

  23.4.2007 12:56 #13

• webe123

  Originally posted by tam2oo5:but thats probably the max he can receive, most likely he would face something like 5 years. This of course would give him a early realease bail in the terms that he has been well behaved. Guess alot of people think about this differently , but when theres like a few million dollars involved i know id think about going to prison for a few years.
  
  Just think in a few years he walks free with all his legal cash gaining interest in a bank somewhere.
  Would you do it?Not if I had to have "BIG BUBBA" for a cell mate...did you ever think about that? And you would have YEARS to spend with the guy. Did you ever think about THAT?
  
  You may think prison would be a picnic, but I would never want to go and find out...FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY!

  23.4.2007 18:02 #14

• webe123

  Quote:Originally posted by tam2oo5:but thats probably the max he can receive, most likely he would face something like 5 years. This of course would give him a early realease bail in the terms that he has been well behaved. Guess alot of people think about this differently , but when theres like a few million dollars involved i know id think about going to prison for a few years.
  
  Just think in a few years he walks free with all his legal cash gaining interest in a bank somewhere.
  Would you do it?Not if I had to have "BIG BUBBA" for a cell mate...did you ever think about that? And you would have YEARS to spend with the guy. Did you ever think about THAT?
  
  You may think prison would be a picnic, but I would never want to go and find out...FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY!
  
  He could also come out penniless,there is no guarantee that he actually still has a lot of money, if he did the lawyers would probably take it anyway. So your point does not make sense.

  23.4.2007 18:06 #15

• webe123

  double post.

  23.4.2007 18:07 #16

• webe123

  for some reason, I acn't seem to change my original post.

  23.4.2007 18:08 #17

• spydah

  These articles show how shallow our government is. Its people companies stealing peoples retirement money that people suppose to live off of and they are more hard up on a file transfer. Funny how priorities are lined up. Im not saying this dude is right for doing what he does but there is plenty of things that should require their man power and in time and some of the stuff they target is just not it.

  24.4.2007 08:19 #18

• tam2oo5

  This guy would hardly be stupid enough to leave all his cash in his bank, that alone would attract attention. He probs got it stashed in property all over the world in others names, or perhaps in a bank in some 3rd world country. Guess we will never know, but im sure he'l not be silly enough to leave his cash in obvious places after avoiding a jail sentance for 10 years.
  
  As to the jail thing, i guess thats every man to their self on that one. Remember "BIG BUBBA" can only be as scaird as you , never forget that thought and you will probably get by not bad
  

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  24.4.2007 15:57 #19

• fukewe

  Guess we will never know, but im sure he'l not be silly enough to leave his cash in obvious places after avoiding a jail sentance for 10 years.
  
  Dont look to me like there is much avoiding there when the guy is sitting in prison for the last 3 yrs fighting extradition.

  24.4.2007 18:47 #20

• cousinkix

  Speaking of thieves! Where does USENEXT get off charging suckers $$$, so they can download pirated music and software from their website? That is no better than actually hawking bootleg copies of Windows XP on EBAY. These guys are in your face ("f--- you") just like that guy in Australia.
  
  "Catch us if you can". Oh I forgot; George Bush and his gang aren't that smart...

  24.4.2007 22:22 #21

• garmoon

  Seems like he had a lot of money but couldn't buy a good lawyer! Spending 3 yrs in prison fighting and loosing extradition, for a crime that he will probably walk away from with just a fine, equivalent to 3 yrs wasted. What were they thinking after a couple of months in jail?

  25.4.2007 04:01 #22

• NSTY

  Remember, this guy is facing FEDERAL jail time where they don't have early release or good time. If he gets even 5 years he'll do all 5.

  27.4.2007 05:10 #23

• SoulRhino

  The fact its reached this stage is ridiculous. Putting ppl IN JAIL for copyright infringement??!?! Thats the biggest injustice ever. Its NOT armed robbery, its NOT assault, its not a dozen or so other things that make u dangerous.
  
  WHAT IT IS is robbing ppl that can afford to be robbed, who r, in actual fact, robbing us first.
  
  In australia (where i live so ill talk about what i know) for instance i paid 80 bucks for stalker: shadow of chernobyl(sp). 80 bucks! what it always has been. U think 80 bucks is cheap? fair enough, i dont have much problem scrounging together 80bucks either...
  
  ...however, how much of this '80 dollars' is advertising costs, manufacturing costs etc etc. All things related to the product itself being compiled? Things that i DONT NEED. i DONT need the box, i DONT need to be hit with an advertising cost.
  
  What drinkordie do, release games for free, wouldnt even stand a chance against fairly priced LEGAL downloads.
  
  For instance - If a game, cost 5-15 dollars for a digital download, complete with unique cd key, would there even be a need for illegal downloads? But thats not my favourite model. I HATE paying per download personally. How about 30 dollars monthly access fee to a site that continuously updates its library of games and lets you download a montly quota or unlimited amount of games? LIke a adult site?
  
  What we have here is courts DEFENDING AN OUTDATED SYSTEM, music and movies included. They think they can get away with charging THIRTY DOLLARS a cd, when i can download it free? how about $1.99? but it has DRM? id rather download it free! Why is single song worth 2 dollars? And an album worth (on itunes in aus dollars) 16.99? Why are they still holding US up at gunpoint just to hear something the artist/record company told us we should hear? And why, as an adult, should i be forced to pay 20 dollars to sit in a movie cinema, with a bunch of strangers making noise etc etc... thats NEVER been my idea of a fun time.
  
  I gotta plan to break drinkordie outta prison, for injustice has been dealt by the dinosaurs... however, holding onto their position will only make them weak and easier to over throw.

  27.4.2007 13:35 #24

• fukewe

  Originally posted by SoulRhino:In australia (where i live so ill talk about what i know) for instance i paid 80 bucks for stalker: shadow of chernobyl(sp). 80 bucks! what it always has been. U think 80 bucks is cheap? fair enough, i dont have much problem scrounging together 80bucks either...
  
  ...however, how much of this '80 dollars' is advertising costs, manufacturing costs etc etc. All things related to the product itself being compiled? Things that i DONT NEED. i DONT need the box, i DONT need to be hit with an advertising cost.
  
  
  
  What we have here is courts DEFENDING AN OUTDATED SYSTEM, music and movies included. They think they can get away with charging THIRTY DOLLARS a cd, when i can download it free? how about $1.99? but it has DRM? id rather download it free! Why is single song worth 2 dollars? And an album worth (on itunes in aus dollars) 16.99? Why are they still holding US up at gunpoint just to hear something the artist/record company told us we should hear? Some well stated points. I see advertising as an expense needed and willing to pay that. Without it how would we hear of games or other things before there time is expired. I as an aspiring musician don't believe in illigaly downloading music. Especaily mine which I write, record, and produce. I dont charge but $5 a cd US because I figure after my expenses I should make a little a CD. It is the guys that charge $20 or $30 a cd that I dont see the sence in. So I download from an alternative site that uses foriegn currency and it cost me about 10c a song. Finally a way that I agree with. The record company makes a few pennies the artist makes a few pennies and I use my own disc to put it on.
  
  The courts already know it is fighting an outdated system. The lawmakers arent keeping up with the times because they have other things on there feeble minds. To worried about how to line there pockets with constituents money. Or like the Bush family in the states wondering how they will push there get rich plan. No matter how many millions of people will die in the process. That is a whole differant subject that I can rant on for ages.

  27.4.2007 14:15 #25

• pmshah

  I cant figure out the priorities of the US govt.
  
  They go after the pirates who basically affect the perceived profits & bottom line of the software publishing companies but do not damage nor create disruption. This may run into millions. The pirates inturn face a prospective fine of USD 500,000 + 10 years in prison.
  
  While the virus creators, who cause billions of dollars worth of damage & disruptions, create havoc on the internet, when caught are let off with a slap on the hand like 6 month probation.

  27.4.2007 17:27 #26

• garmoon

  @pmshaw
  
  Ah, but the constant barrage of viral attacks creates thousands of jobs to fix all the corrupted pcs. Whereas, the pirates contribute nothing in jobs, only saves the commom man a little money on his cd-dvds. We here in the States have yet to figure out our government also. LOL

  27.4.2007 19:02 #27

• pmshah

  In which case they should institute an award of "Most (job) creative Enterpreneur".

  29.4.2007 20:20 #28