Two American citizens have been sentenced to up to two and a half years behind bars for selling pirated DVDs online, in a case China says illustrates how hard it is to enforce anti-piracy laws.
Randolph Hobson Guthrie was sentenced to two years and six months and to pay a $60,500 fine, while Abram Cody Thrush was sentenced to a year and a $1,200 fine as an accessory.
Guthrie, Thrush, and two others were tried for using the Internet to sell over 180,000 pirated DVDs to buyers in 25 countries, including 20,000 of the fakes being sold to American customers, according to Chinese officials.
Shanghai No. 2 District Court Judge Xue Zheng said Guthrie and Thrush could appeal their sentences, but it was not known at this writing whether the two men would do so. They were also ordered deported upon finishing their sentences.
The two other defendants, both Chinese, were Wu Dong, ordered to pay a $3,600 fine, and Wu Shibiao, ordered to serve a year and three months and pay $1,200.
Guthrie lived in Shanghai when he was arrested in the summer of 2004. Police said they found 119,000 pirated DVDs at his home and a rented warehouse and also cited invoices and bank transfers as evidence against him.
Guthrie was living in Shanghai at the time of his arrest last summer. Police said they found 119,000 pirated DVDs at his home and at a rented warehouse. They also referred to evidence from invoices and bank transfers. U.S. law enforcement officials were also involved in the case.
China has stepped up enforcement of laws against rampant bootlegging of DVDs, CDs, and other intellectual property, under pressure from the United States and other trading partners. State media pointed to the case as an example of how foreigners are involved in the trade of pirated products.
Despite sporadic arrests, counterfeit books, DVDs, and music are easily available on almost every city street.
