Press Release
For Immediate Release
February 7, 2004
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U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Columbia
Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.
Judiciary Center
555 Fourth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Contact: Channing Phillips
Public Affairs
(202) 514-6933
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Washington, D.C. - United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.
and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael A. Mason of the FBI's Washington
Field Office announced that Eric Miller, age 32, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania,
was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable Gladys Kessler, United States
District Judge, to six months of home detention, 3 years of probation,
restitution in the amount of $519.72, and a fine of $1,000.00. A Consent
Order of Forfeiture and Destruction was entered regarding music VHS tapes
and compact disks (CDs) seized at Miller's Pennsylvania residence at the
time the FBI executed a search warrant.
The sentence arises in connection with Miller's earlier guilty plea in
June 2003 to the charge of Trafficking in Live Musical Performances in
connection with his sales of copies of performances that were "bootleg"
music tapes advertised on Internet web sites operated by Miller, the first
such prosecution in the District of Columbia. According to information
presented to the court by Assistant United States Sherri L. Schornstein,
the live musical performances that were bootlegged included the works
of Duran Duran, Mariah Carey, Destinys Child, Jewel, Alicia Keys, Sarah
McLachlin, Whitesnake, Mya, Shakira, Britney Spears, and Tori Amos.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Kessler noted that the defendant had received
a cease and desist letter and had persisted in the activity which she
described as "theft of people's hard work, efforts, and artistic
abilities."
U.S. Attorney Howard stated that, "people who steal and sell the
artistic works of others need to recognize that this behavior is theft.
They also need to realize that while they are out on the Internet transacting
business, there is always a paper trail leading right back to them. They
are not as anonymous as they may think, these crimes have a negative impact
on the music, motion picture, and software industries, and these crimes
will be aggressively prosecuted."
According to information presented to the Court, from approximately May
7, 2002 through May 14 2003, Miller operated the websites phillynet@hotmail.com/buputa
and sales@phillynetservice.com which offered for sale numerous VHS tapes
and CDs of live theatrical performances. Between May 7, 2002, and March
7, 2003, an undercover FBI agent purchased from Miller's websites a total
of 25 VHS tapes, which Miller sold for $18.99 per unit, and 3 CDs which
Miller sold for $14.99 per unit. The purchases were shipped to Washington,
D.C. via Priority Mail. The VHS tapes and CDs purchased were "bootleg"
copies of artists' live musical performances. That is, copies of live
musical performances made without the artists' permission.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Howard and FBI Assistant Director
in Charge Mason commended the work of FBI Special Agent Melissa S. Morrow
and the staff of the U.S. Attorney's Office, including Nicholas Novak,
Auditor and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Schornstein who prosecuted
the case.
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04-046
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