In case you need any reminder that video game pirating is bad business, just ask this NES copyright pirate extraordinaire.
Kifah Maswadi has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $415,000, according to Games Press. After serving his time in prison, Maswadi will face three years of supervised release and “perform 50 hours of community service, which includes educating the public on copyright infringement and how it can lead to bad, bad things if you get into as deep as this guy.
So what exactly was his crime?
He was busted in April of 2007 by the FBI who raided his home after investigating him for a full year. He was arrested for selling a “Power Player” device, which is an illegal game console that contains ROMs of over 76 built-in games (just like the other plug-and-play ones you see in stores, but this one is unauthorized). Most of the games on the “Power Player” came from the NES and Famicon.
He would buy the games wholesale from China for $7 to $9 a pop, and then would turn around and sell the devices to unknowing customers for $23.99 or $47.99 depending on the model. This netted him upwards of $390,000 from selling the illegal units.
Once again, it’s a painful reminder that pirating games is not the way to go, and can only land you in deep, deep trouble if you expect to profit off of it.
Via 1-Up