Software cheats go straight to jail

Seven men were sentenced to up 27 months imprisonment after being found guilty of software theft, the longest custodial sentence ever handed down for CD-Rom piracy..

As a result of a joint investigation by the Federation Against Software Theft (Fast) and Cambridgeshire Constabulary Fraud Squad, software estimated to be worth #20 million has been seized since January 1995.

Ian Robert Du Kett, 43, was sentenced to two years, three months imprisonment. Peter George Rayner, 28, was sentenced to nine months and ordered to pay #950 costs with a property forfeiture order. Christopher Nicholson, 49, was sentenced to three months imprisonment on two counts to run concurrently.

Joseph Regan, 53, was sentenced to 18 months and six months to run concurrently, with a property forfeiture order. Stephen Hughes, 40, was ordered to pay #10,000 with a property forfeiture order. Another man was conditionally discharged for two years.

Although Judge Julian Hall awarded the longest custodial sentences ever given for software theft, pressure groups including Fast and the Business Software Alliances will use the case as an opportunity to press for longer sentences for software theft and piracy.

The court heard how the defendants copied software packages on to computer disks by squeezing the data. The packages ranged from high-end office applications to games.

Detective Inspector Brian Jenkinson of Cambridgeshire Constabulary Fraud Squad said: ?My indications are that this is happening all over the country, and it?s on the increase.?