PRISON TERM FOR E-MERCHANT

Jeremiah Mondello was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years probation and 150 hours community service per year for selling privated goods online.

“Mondello is a whiz-kid who used his smarts and savvy to rip off software makers and consumers,” noted Keith Kupferschmid, SVP of Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement for the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). “We are fortunate that he has been stopped, but there are hundreds more like him running illegal operations on eBay and other sites. The Mondello case demonstrates that these pirates won’t simply get a slap on the wrist when caught — they very well may end up doing serious time in federal prison.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crime Center, Mondello used stolen bank account information to create more than 40 fictitious eBay and PayPal identities to sell pirated software via the auction site. His fraudulent sales amounted to a five to six figure sales volume.

The SIIA, which initiated the action against the notorious eBay pirate, also announced six new lawsuits against sellers of illegal software on auction sites bringing the total lawsuits so far in 2008 to 32.

“We’ve been much more aggressive in filing lawsuits this year and intend to send a clear message that auctioning counterfeit and unauthorized software will lead to serious penalties,” Kupferschmid continued. Today’s six new lawsuits will be followed by even more as the year goes on.”

The most recent lawsuits charged all of the following with knowingly selling software illegally on eBay: Nathanael S. Landsteiner, Fairmont, MN; John Hoyle and Gail La Fortune, Senoia, GA; Gennadiy Barbin, Boise, ID; Tamara Irby, Nathalie, VA; Trisha Carter/Maggie Grace Designs; Denham Springs, LA; and, Andreh Lee, Elmhurst, NY.

To date, the SIIA program has led to judgments and settlements against illegal eBay sellers as well as sellers on other websites dealing in counterfeit, OEM, unbundled, unauthorized education, and other versions of software not authorized for Internet resale. Damages paid by defendants have run as high as several hundred thousand dollars. SIIA also has successfully tracked and pursued the upstream sources of some of these products, and will continue to do so.

Read the press release from the SIIA