The 25-year-old pleaded guilty under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service.
Clarke was arrested after Cineworld and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) investigated into a string of uploaded films.
Says John Dunn, area procurator fiscal for Glasgow (via BBC):
Christopher Clarke repeatedly pirated films from cinema screenings and uploaded them to the internet for profit. Piracy is by no means a victimless crime - it undermines legitimate businesses and the arts sector as a whole, and can be used to channel money into organised crime.
I hope this sends a strong message to all those who believe that they can remain anonymous solely because they commit their crimes over the internet. They should beware that the investigative authorities of Scotland work tirelessly to remain at the forefront of forensic computer analysis and technological specialism - we can and will track down those who pirate films, whether the profit is made in cyberspace or a marketplace.
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 1 Jul 2011 19:33
