Samantha Rose Hunt07 April 2009, 4:00 PM
Despite worldwide attention, a 26 year old Australian man has got off a movie piracy charge with little more than a slap on the wrist from Blacktown Local Court.
One Australian man is walking free with nothing more than a slap on the wrist after being found guilty and convicted of “camming” movies, which he then supplied to PreVail, a well known “Scene” group, thus making the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) and Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) incredibly upset.
In the past 3 1/2 years PreVail has released over 200 titles onto the Internet.
The MPAA has been working to reduce and (it hopes) ultimately eliminate the availability of camcorded pirated movies, and believed the arrest of Australian man Craig Farrugia would be a step forward in its campaign.
26 year old Craig Farrugia was arrested on February 13, and charged on 18 counts of copyright infringement (each count potentially costing Farrugia $AU60,500, and up to five years imprisonment), after it was alleged that he was a cammer working for PreVail.
When police searched his home, they seized video camcording and computer equipment. The equipment was able to be linked to watermarks found on PreVail movie releases which were in turn able to be linked to the cinemas in which the movies were cammed in. Among the movies Farrugia was accused of camming were Marley and Me, Yes Man, He’s Just not that Into You, Bedtime Stories, and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (there's no accounting for movie pirates' taste in movies.)
During the trial, Magistrate Keady determined that Farrugia was was “part of an organized criminal conspiracy.” Keady also claimed that the movie industry deserves the same treatment as individual homeowners whose homes are burglarized. His theft was compared to larceny.
Regardless of the seriousness which Keady felt regarding the crime, the industry was shocked when the Blacktown Loacal Court in Sydney fined Farrugia, who plead guilty, a mere $AU5,400 and placed him on an 18 month non-custodial good behavior bond.
Even though many were appalled by this decision, AFACT Director of Operations, Neil Gane claimed that the case sets a precedent and would deter others from pirating films. The MPA stated, “While we are pleased with the very prompt closure of this matter, we are disappointed in the sentence meted out by the Court as it has failed to recognize the damage this particular crime can have on the industry.”