BitTorrent file-sharer jailed for three months

A Hong Kong court sentenced a man to three months in prison on Monday in what is believed to be the first jailing for sharing film files over the popular BitTorrent (BT) network.

In a stark warning to online file sharers worldwide, Chan Nai-ming, 38, an unemployed man who called himself "Big Crook", was jailed for uploading three Hollywood films onto the Internet through BT.

Meting out the sentence in the Tuen Mun Court, Magistrate Colin Mackintosh served notice on online pirates the world over.

He said a jail term was needed to deter such crimes and educate the public about the seriousness of copyright infringements. This was despite a reformatory report suggestion that Chan serve a community service order instead.

"The message has to be sent out by courts that the distribution of infringing copies, particularly by seeding films onto the Internet, will not be treated leniently," said Mr Mackintosh.

The magistrate said that even though Chan did not profit from his distributing of files, his act had caused financial losses to the films' owners and had little distinction with manufacturing or distributing pirated CDs and DVDs.

But Chan said he would appeal the ruling and was released on bail of $5,000.

Chan was arrested in January and was charged in April for uploading the films Daredevil, Miss Congeniality and Red Planet onto the Internet without a licence by using the BT peer-to-peer file-sharing program.

The Hong Kong customs and excise department said Chan was the first person in the world to be charged with violating copyright laws through use of BT technology.

BT is a program that works by allowing downloads from multiple sources, each supplying a small part of the whole. It offers high-speed downloads allowing Internet users to easily trade and share music, films and software files.

When anyone downloads a BT file, it becomes a source for others. But locating those who upload or download material could be a difficult and complicated process, industry observers said.

Industry spokesmen said Chan's conviction would deter would-be downloaders.

"The conviction of Chan Nai-ming sends a message to pirates that you can and will be found and prosecuted for the theft of intellectual property," said Mike Ellis, senior vice-president of the Motion Picture Association of America [MPAA] in Asia Pacific.

"The lesson of Chan Nai-ming is that there is a price to pay for intellectual property crimes in Hong Kong. Chan is paying that price today, and doubtless others will pay a price in future."

The BT service is one of the many peer-to-peer online file sharing services, which include Limewire and KaZaa, that Internet surfers use to share files.

The makers of music, films and software say illegal sharing of copyrighted material is losing them billions of dollars each year.

Chan was convicted of copyright infringement by the Tuen Mun court on October 24.

Customs officials said that since then use of such web-based services in Hong Kong had dropped by 80 per cent.

Chan faced a maximum of four years in prison.

Mr Mackintosh said he reduced the term because this was Chan's first offence and the first sentencing for such a case in the world.

However, the judge said anyone else caught illegally sharing files in the wake of his judgment could expect tougher treatment.

"I made some reductions [to the] term to reflect the fact this is the first such conviction," the magistrate told the court.

He said all users of the BitTorrent system were opening themselves up for potential prosecution.

"The defendant and those with whom he associated through the BitTorrent community were fully aware of the criminality of uploading things through [the network]," he said.

Industry observers said the time it took to bring a prosecution was a problem hindering a comprehensive crackdown.