AfterDawn: News

EliteTorrents admin gets 18 months in jail

After being found guilty in June of criminal copyright infringement for his role as an administrator for the now-defunct torrent site EliteTorrents, Daniel Dove now faces 18 months in prison after being sentenced by the Justice Department this morning.

In addition to his prison time, Dove was also sentenced to three years of supervised released and a $20,000 USD fine. The sentencing was considerably light considering he faced up to 10 years and a $150,000 USD fine.



The sentencing concludes the investigation into the EliteTorrents administrators who were held responsible for the leak of a workprint of the blockbuster hit "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" two days before it hit theaters.

The government described Dove as "an administrator of a small but crucial group of Elite Torrents members known as 'Uploaders,' who were responsible for supplying pirated content to the group."

Before the site was shut down by authorities in 2005, it was one of, if not the most popular torrent trackers in the US.

Dove was the last of eight EliteTorrents administrators and uploaders to be sentenced and was the only one who pleaded not guilty. The others who pleaded guilty received smaller 5 month sentences.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2008 14:02

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• 12 comments

• Leningrad

  wow.. what an idiot he could have admitted

  10.9.2008 17:30 #1

• dssacer

  who did he kill ?? to get a sentence like that .wow

  10.9.2008 20:26 #2

• hikaricor

  If more people would stand up to the MPAA/RIAA and the us government, this shit wouldn't happen. People are so afraid of these outdated control systems these days they don't even realize that can stop them.

  11.9.2008 01:37 #3

• windsong

  Never talk to the cops/feds:
  
  http://boingboing.net/2008/07/28/law-prof-and-cop-agr.html

  11.9.2008 13:24 #4

• DVDdoug

  Originally posted by dssacer: who did he kill ?? to get a sentence like that .wow18 months for KILLING somebody? Well... maybe in Vermont, but most (U.S.) states have the DEATH PENALTY!!! (Actually, most average-murders don't "qualify" for the death penalty.)

  11.9.2008 15:26 #5

• snowlock

  Quote:Originally posted by dssacer: who did he kill ?? to get a sentence like that .wow18 months for KILLING somebody? Well... maybe in Vermont, but most (U.S.) states have the DEATH PENALTY!!! (Actually, most average-murders don't "qualify" for the death penalty.)this is true, but i still can't help but think every time:
  wtf, prison.
  
  prison is, in truth, almost always for violent offenses.
  there are plenty of drug charges that get one in as well,
  but that particular batch is just as debatable to me.
  
  keep in mind, that may be different because of location,
  but it makes no sense to put someone who infringed copyright in with murderers.
  
  i always stand that the legality of copyright infringement,
  at least on an individual sort of basis, is questionable at the absolute worst.
  it is definitely not criminal; they don't lock one up for it.
  the civil suits they do file are highly debatable as well.
  i guess it should be different when someone is making loads of money...maybe.
  
  apparently they didn't make a bunch of money, though,
  because they would have probably all plead not guilty if they could afford counsel.
  sucks for him, but kudos for making a stand; albeit kinda esoteric.
  the more that do, the closer we'll come to change.
  no idea if we'll ever arrive, but yeah.

  11.9.2008 20:55 #6

• mikeh0303

  unfortunately the us has no problem putting a lot of people in jail.. even for un violent crimes. From the statistics I looked at 1% of the US population is in jail. Almost if not more then 50% of that 1% are in there for drug related crimes.
  
  I think he made the right choice in not pleading guilty, hes the only one that really stood up for what he believed in. Its unfortunate that he will be in jail for more then a year over this.
  
  The USA should focus more on the real violent crimes, or maybe some of the crimes being committed by its own government officials.

  11.9.2008 23:14 #7

• DXR88

  the admins should keep a chain-gun handy, just in case. i bet a couple of violent out breaks will make the government think twice.
  
  after all the US is run by some of the biggest thugs in the world.

  12.9.2008 11:42 #8

• AparoidX

  His friends only got 5 months, but he gets 18 for not confessing?
  
  I wonder if any of their VIP members will bail them out with a donate button?

  14.9.2008 15:00 #9

• borhan9

  A preety short sentence for this crime.

  14.9.2008 17:46 #10

• varnull

  land of the free eh?
  
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/15381.cfm
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. Im an a$$hole too.. and Im very proud of the fact.

  14.9.2008 20:33 #11

• Mez

  "Life " is only 20 years. That not death is the most common sentance for murder in the US.

  15.9.2008 07:58 #12