Czech software pirate sentenced to make anti-piracy film

A Czech man convicted of software piracy has received an unconventional sentence – instead of facing hefty fines from the firms whose software he pirated, he was offered the chance to make an anti-piracy film. The catch? To avoid any financial penalty, the film had to produce more than 200,000 views.

The man, known only as Jakub F, came to the out-of-court settlement with a group of firms whose software he pirated after being convicted by a Czech court, reports the BBC.

The criminal court gave Jakub a three-year suspended sentence, but decided that a financial penalty would have to be decided by the firms affected.

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The companies, which included Microsoft, HBO Europe, Sony Music and Twentieth Century Fox, estimated that their financial losses amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds, but also realised that Jakub had insufficient funds to fully repay them. Instead, BSA, the alliance representing the complainants, said they would be satisfied with a small payment and Jakub's co-operation in the production of an anti-piracy video.

The video The Story of My Piracy, available here, had to be seen by at least 200,000 people or a huge fine would be enforced. The video was posted on a dedicated site mojepiratstvi.cz, uploaded to YouTube and also embedded on many other sites.

As Engadget pointed out, "unless you have a grasp of Czech, you probably won't understand most of it" but the film gives viewers a chance to play a part in deciding the pirate's fate.

In the professional-looking video which features a doom-laden soundtrack, Jakub talks about the fun he had sharing content on warez forums, but explains how it all backfired when copyright holders identified him and demanded the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages, which he could never pay.

Torrent Freak, the digital web blog, has helpfully provided a translation of Jakub's confession in which he says: "I thought that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I thought that it didn't hurt the big companies. I didn't even do it for the money, I did it for fun."

Jakub adds: "I felt in the warez community that I meant something. I was convinced that I was too small a fish for someone to get to me. But eventually, they got me. Even for me, the investigators came to work."

Responses to the video have been mixed, reports The Guardian. Some watched the video in solidarity with Jakub. "Only came here to support a pirate. Have a free view on me," wrote one viewer. "Ditto. Clicked, switched tabs. This punishment is bullshit," explained another.

Others felt the video would encourage revenge pirating, while some even wondered if it was a viral ad for the software alliance BSA. BSA has responded that the sentence and the film are very real.

At the time of writing, Jakub's video has been watched over 400,000 times, which should get him off the hook with his complainants. Whether it deters other pirates, or encourages them, remains to be seen.