Three Indicted on Software Piracy Charges After BSA-Assisted Investigation
Three Lakeland, Florida, men -- Maurice A. Robberson, Thomas K. Robberson and Alton Lee Grooms -- were indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia Thursday on charges of conspiring to sell more than $5 million in pirated software. The indictments followed a lengthy investigation by the FBI's Washington Field Office prompted by software copyright owners' complaints about sales of pirated software at the website BuysUSA.com. The investigation, which was assisted by the Business Software Alliance, uncovered a slew of other related websites that also sold counterfeit software. In October 2005, seven search warrants were executed in Florida on residences and businesses associated with the conspiracy. In June 2007, Danny Ferrer, an alleged associate of the recently-indicted Florida men, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and copyright infringement charges and was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Thursday's indictment alleges that, from late 2002 through October 2005, the three defendants conspired with Ferrer to sell more than $5 million in counterfeit copyrighted software through the websites BuysUSA.com, CDSalesUSA.com, AmericanSoftWareSales.com, TheDealDepot.net, and BestValueShoppe.com. The counterfeits included products from Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk Inc., and Macromedia Inc. According to the Justice Department press release, the defendants have been charged with one count each of conspiracy to violate copyright and counterfeiting laws. Maurice Robberson was also charged with a substantive count of felony copyright infringement and one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods, while Thomas Robberson was charged with one substantive felony count of copyright infringement and two counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods.