2 Plead Guilty in Piracy Case
The Justice Department said Tuesday that two men had pleaded guilty to violating copyrights on peer-to-peer networks, marking the first federal criminal convictions for file sharing.
The men -- William R. Trowbridge, 50, of Johnson City, N.Y., and Michael Chicoine, 47, of San Antonio -- were part of a loosely organized file-sharing community called the Underground Network. According to the Justice Department, Trowbridge and Chicoine each operated an online hub that let people exchange video games, computer programs, and digital music and movie files.
Denizens of the Underground Network use a type of file-sharing software called Direct Connect, which lets them copy files from each other’s computers. The Underground Network’s website contends that hub operators are not responsible for what their users share. However, the Justice Department said Trowbridge and Chicoine pleaded guilty because they operated the hubs “to obtain valuable infringing works from others.”
Neither man could be reached for comment. Scheduled to be sentenced April 29, they each face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The pleas stem from an undercover investigation prompted in part by pressure from the major movie studios and record companies.
