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Tag: app piracy

  • App Pirates Guilty of Copyright Infringement

    Back in January the U.S. charged four people in connection with pirate app stores developed for Android devices. Now all four of these defendants has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The cases represent the U.S. Justice Department’s first cases against alleged mobile app pirates, and now appear to have been a success.

    Thomas Pace of Oregon City Oregon is the latest of the pirates to plead guilty to copyright the charges. The 38-year-old Pace was a member of the Appbucket Group, the developers of the Appbucket market for Android. Through their market app the Appbucket Group distributed more than one million copyrighted Android apps without permission from the apps’ creators from 2010 to 2012. The retail value of those apps was estimated by the U.S. Justice Department to total over $700,000.

    Pace’s sentencing is scheduled for July 9. He faces up to five years in prison.

    Two other members of the Appbucket Group, Thomas Dye and Nicholas Narbone, both pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge back in March.

    A fourth pirate, Kody Jon Peterson of Clermont, Florida, pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge on Monday. The 22-year-old Peterson was a member of the SnappzMarket Group, an organization similar to the Appbucket Group. SnappzMarket operated an alternative Android app market from 2011 to 2012, offering over one million copyrighted Android apps. The SnappzMarket is estimated to have distributed over $1.7 million worth of Android software. The SnappzMarket app was shut down by the U.S. government in late 2013 following an FBI investigation into the group.

    Post by SnappzMarket.

    Peterson’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

    “These crimes involve the large-scale violation of intellectual property rights in a relatively new and rapidly growing market,” said Mythili Raman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Justice Department. “While this represents the first counterfeit apps case by the Department of Justice, it exemplifies our longstanding commitment to prosecute those who steal the creative works of others.”

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  • Android App Groups Charged For Piracy

    Android App Groups Charged For Piracy

    The openness of the Android platform has many advantages, but it also makes the platform more of a gamble for developers. Apple’s iOS is still the leading platform for many app releases (especially games) and apps can often sell on iOS while their Android versions are free. The reason for this is the expectations that Android users have, as well as the ease with which Android apps can be pirated using alternative app stores that operate in the open. Now, however, app pirates will have to be more careful or face legal consequences.

    The U.S. Department of Justice has charged four people in connection with running alternative pirate Android app stores. All four defendants in the case have been charged with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. They could each face up to five years in prison if found guilty.

    One of the defendants is accused of involvement in the SnappzMarket app store, which the Justice Department believes distributed over one million pirated Android apps. The other three defendants have been charged for their involvement in the Appbucket app store, which authorities also believe distributed over one million pirated apps.

    All of the defendants are accused of renting server space for their respective app stores. Both of the stores were seized by U.S. authorities in August 2012.

    “These crimes involve the large-scale violation of intellectual property rights in a relatively new and rapidly growing market,” said Mythili Raman, acting U.S. assistant attorney general. “While this represents the first counterfeit apps case by the Department of Justice, it exemplifies our longstanding commitment to prosecute those who steal the creative works of others.”

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