Chan Nai-ming, a 38-year old Hong Kong man convicted of sharing pirated movies, has lost his final appeal in the territory's highest court and will now have to finish serving a three-month prison sentence. He used the screen name "Big Crook" and is believed to be the first person to receive jail time for distributing movie files using BitTorrent. Chan was originally charged in April 2005 for copyright infringement after uploading and distributing three Hollywood movies — Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality. He was sentenced in November 2005 and had served several weeks in prison before filing a series of appeals.
Chan's lawyer argued before the Court of Final Appeal that he only uploaded the movies and did not distribute them, but the court dismissed the distinction: "He plainly succeeded in distributing copies of the films in question. The appeal must accordingly be dismissed." The Hong Kong government said Chan's conviction was a milestone in the fight against illegal online sharing of intellectual property and that since his arrest illegal file-sharing had fallen by 80%.
News source: CBC News
Chan's lawyer argued before the Court of Final Appeal that he only uploaded the movies and did not distribute them, but the court dismissed the distinction: "He plainly succeeded in distributing copies of the films in question. The appeal must accordingly be dismissed." The Hong Kong government said Chan's conviction was a milestone in the fight against illegal online sharing of intellectual property and that since his arrest illegal file-sharing had fallen by 80%.
News source: CBC News
i dont really see a big problem with it as long as he was not selling the movies for profit.
If someone came around to your house and took your computer and gave it to someone, then 'thats all right', as he was not selling the item for profit.
If someone came around to your house and took your computer and gave it to someone, then 'thats all right', as he was not selling the item for profit.
If he made a copy of my computer and gave the original back I wouldn't really mind...
If someone came around to your house and took your computer and gave it to someone, then 'thats all right', as he was not selling the item for profit.
From what I have read, he never broke into a studio and stole the original. So your analogy fails there...
A man who used video camera to record female's underware does not need to serve the time but software piracy needs!
Yeah I noticed the PRC flag which really should be
Oh, sure. Completely independent. No political interference from the PRC government.
If you believe that, I've got some Florida swampland I'd like to interest you in.
Oh, sure. Completely independent. No political interference from the PRC government.
If you believe that, I've got some Florida swampland I'd like to interest you in.
The common-law legal system is the best thing Hong Kong inherits from the British rule.
It is currently the last resort people have to go against government's wrongdoing.
It is as independent from the Hong Kong government as before.
After the handover, although it is not 100% independent from China, it is close enough.
Sure, China did override a final court decision once a few years ago (that was really bad), but the decisions were made independently; it was just sad that the stupid then CE Tung asked the Chinese government to overrule that final court decision just to stop some potential immigrants from China.
Everyone should share movies. Then, no one ever has to want to buy them, so no one does. Then Hollywood can't afford to make movies anymore so soon there won't be anything left to steal.
As the courts have proven, crimes like this have no justification.
3 months is nothing. Obviously he wanted to go to prison - why else would he knowingly violate a law where jail time is a known consequence?
Hopefully this sends out the message that consequences should (and will) be paid for stealing and illegally making media available for download.
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