Daniel Dove, 26 years of age, may face 10 years in prison for an act that most of us do everyday: acquire media under somewhat dubious copyright standards. The key to the Dove case, however, was not so much the fault of uploading torrents as it was the conspiracy to violate copywright law. By circulating the pirated material on a local server before uploading the torrent and releasing it before it hit stores, the jury was convince of the conspiracy charges, setting a precedent to go after online media pirates in similar fashion. Yarr?
Dove, along with Scott McCausland and Grant Stanley, were known as the "Uploaders" for the now-defunct EliteTorrents website. They used super-fast internet connections to upload a significant chunk of EliteTorrents' material, including Star Wars Episode III (hell hath no fury like a spurned George Lucas). The other two had previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 5 months in prison. But Dove, the ringleader of the group, was trying to hold out until the prosecution caved, only to see it backfire. Record execs would be licking their chops at this, if their industry wasn't in its death throes already.
