Justice Dept.: Three Plead Guilty to Online Piracy of "Pre-release" CDs

Washington, DC -- The Justice Department said that it has obtained guilty pleas from three men accused of distributing "pre-release" copies of songs on the Internet as part of its anti-piracy initiative. The department said that 21-year-old Derek Borchardt, of Charlotte, N.C.; 24-year-old Matthew Howard, of Longmont, Colo.; and 31-year-old Aaron Jones, of Hillsboro, Ore. have each pled guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement. The men allegedly were involved with a group called "Apocalypse Crew," which obtained CDs before their commercial releases from sources such as radio DJs, employees of music magazine publishers or workers at CD manufacturing plants, and uploaded them onto servers. The songs eventually made their way to peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, were others were able to download them for free. Under a new federal law that stiffened penalties for "pre-release" piracy, each man will face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing for the three, as well as 31-year-old George Hayes, of Danville, Va. -- who also pleaded guilty to pre-release music piracy in an unrelated case -- is scheduled for May 19.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/February/06_crm_103.html