Student Pleads Guilty in U.S. Case Over Web Piracy

A college student has pleaded guilty to illegally distributing thousands of pirated software programs, movies and pieces of music from his Web site, giving the government its first Internet piracy conviction under a 1997 law.

Jeffrey Levy, 22, was charged in February with violating the federal No Electronic Theft Act after investigators found the material had been distributed through equipment at his apartment in Eugene.

The senior at the University of Oregon entered his plea in U.S. District Court on Friday and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22. Levy downloaded huge amounts of software and digital recordings that he passed along to anybody who found his Web site.

“Mr. Levy’s case should serve as a notice that the Justice Department has made prosecution of Internet piracy one of its priorities,” said federal Assistant Atty. Gen. James Robinson, the chief of the department’s criminal division in Washington.

“This is theft, pure and simple,” Robinson said.

The 1997 law makes it illegal to reproduce or distribute copyrighted works such as software and digital recordings, even if it is distributed without charge. Such piracy cost companies an estimated $11 billion last year.

The FBI was tipped to Levy by university computer managers who saw an unusually high volume of traffic on one of its servers, computers that typically handle connections with the Internet.

“We watch all of our network connections because you have to monitor the traffic patterns overall for the campus to make sure there aren’t any problems,” said Joanne Hugi, director of the university’s computer center.

Under the No Electronic Theft Act, reproducing or distributing more than 10 copyright works with a total value of more than $2,500 is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison and fines up to $250,000.