Software pirate gets six years

By Jennifer Jones
Posted on ZDNet News: Aug 25, 2006 5:08:00 PM

A Florida man who pleaded guilty to copyright charges in connection with multimillion-dollar sales of pirated Autodesk, Adobe Systems and Macromedia software was sentenced Friday to six years in prison. Danny Ferrer, 37, of Lakeland, Fla., offered CD copies of the products, packaged with a serial number necessary for activation, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday. He did this through a Web site called BuysUSA.com, from late 2002 until it was shut down by the FBI in October 2005.

As part of his sentence, which begins Sept. 30, Ferrer must pay more than $4.1 million in restitution to the software makers. He must also continue to sell all the assets he procured with his profits, which, according to the FBI, include a Lamborghini, a Hummer, two Corvettes, two Cessna planes, a helicopter, a motor boat and an ambulance.

A Florida man who pleaded guilty to copyright charges in connection with multimillion-dollar sales of pirated Autodesk, Adobe Systems and Macromedia software was sentenced Friday to six years in prison. Danny Ferrer, 37, of Lakeland, Fla., offered CD copies of the products, packaged with a serial number necessary for activation, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday. He did this through a Web site called BuysUSA.com, from late 2002 until it was shut down by the FBI in October 2005.

As part of his sentence, which begins Sept. 30, Ferrer must pay more than $4.1 million in restitution to the software makers. He must also continue to sell all the assets he procured with his profits, which, according to the FBI, include a Lamborghini, a Hummer, two Corvettes, two Cessna planes, a helicopter, a motor boat and an ambulance.