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An Oregon man will spend the next four years in prison for his role in selling counterfeit software on eBay

Convicted software pirate Jeremiah Mondello was sentenced last week to a four-year prison sentence after being caught and convicted of selling pirated software through eBay.  In addition to selling the counterfeit software, Mondello also admitted to identity theft after stealing personal information so he could create new PayPal accounts.

Mondello was responsible for using as many as 40 fake usernames to sell up to $1 million in counterfeit software between December 2005 and October 2007, the government alleged.  Officially, he was convicted of criminal copyright infringement, aggravated identity theft, and mail fraud.  

Mondello will also have three years of supervised release and must perform 450 hours of community service once he is released from prison.  

During his three year stint as an eBay business guru, Mondello reportedly made up to $300,000 selling Intuit Quicken financial software for $30 per copy.

He's free on bail at the moment, but must report to jail to begin his sentence in the next 60 days.

"I just sold a few to pay for gas and lunch," Mondello told Wired in an exclusive interview, explaining how he entered the world of counterfeiting.  "I was on financial aid.  I didn't want to take out any more student loans.  That was the starting motivation.  Later, I guess I kind of decided I thought it would be a good idea to save some money and start my own business and do some travel."

To date, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has successfully convicted 29 people who were involved in counterfeit software being sold online through auction web sites.

The latest controversy surrounding pirated software may yet again see eBay in legal hot water with manufacturers and the government.  The Software and Information Industry Association is thinking about suing eBay over the counterfeit goods.

If it chooses not to file a lawsuit against eBay, however, the software group may petition Congress to consider rewriting the Digital Millennium Act so that online auction houses will have to be responsible for the actions of their users.

EBay already faces legal pressure in several different nations from a handful of companies trying to force the auction site to take responsibility for what its users sell through the site.  EBay recently lost in a French court after Louis Vuitton won a reported $63 million from the company.

In the U.S., eBay won a suit against Tiffany, after the judge said the site effectively took "reasonable action" to try and stop fraudsters from selling copyrighted material through the site.

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Win
By itlnstln on 7/29/2008 8:41:40 AM , Rating: 5
Well, at least he'll have three hots and a cot and won't have to worry about lunch and gas.




RE: Win
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 7/29/08, Rating: -1
RE: Win
By tmouse on 7/29/2008 9:10:33 AM , Rating: 5
But the travel goal is gone, unless you consider "up the river" a destination. He will also have to worry about having his own "copyright" violated.


RE: Win
By glitchc on 7/29/2008 9:34:54 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
He will also have to worry about having his own "copyright" violated.


Not likely as he'll probly end up in a minimum-security prison. This is fraud/embezzlement after all.


RE: Win
By bdewong on 7/29/2008 1:59:50 PM , Rating: 3
no, fraudsters/embezzlers go to federal "pound-you-in-the-ass" prison


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/08, Rating: 0
RE: Win
By geeg on 7/29/2008 10:00:14 AM , Rating: 4
Yes, because we do not want to coach him to be a contributing individual to the society. Why not eliminate prisons and follow what some extremists would do, cut the hand which committed the crime?


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/08, Rating: 0
RE: Win
By maven81 on 7/29/2008 10:43:49 AM , Rating: 5
That's exactly right. Same should be true with illegal immigrants. If breaking the law is no big deal, why even have laws then?


RE: Win
By cochy on 7/29/08, Rating: -1
RE: Win
By napalmjack on 7/29/2008 11:19:17 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, because society forced them to do it, so it's all our fault that his mom didn't hug him enough and his dad looked at him funny.


RE: Win
By cochy on 7/29/2008 12:31:35 PM , Rating: 2
Who's blaming you?


RE: Win
By dandaman247 on 7/29/2008 11:19:41 AM , Rating: 2
Don't you mean, the "privileges" we enjoy?


RE: Win
By cochy on 7/29/2008 12:31:07 PM , Rating: 2
I don't want to argue about semantics. But surely you give up certain amounts of freedom by being tossed behind bars.


RE: Win
By Denithor on 7/29/2008 2:45:23 PM , Rating: 3
I wouldn't call it "give up" as much as "turn down" because, after all, you chose to break the law and should be responsible for what happens as a result.


RE: Win
By cochy on 7/29/2008 3:12:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't want to argue about semantics


:P


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 3:32:53 PM , Rating: 2
You don't want to argue because you don't have an argument. You have a retarded belief that you're right and everyone else is wrong. You can't back it up with anything.


RE: Win
By Alpha4 on 7/29/2008 6:07:06 PM , Rating: 2
Like many of us he's probably debated it a hundred times already. I feel my energy draining just thinking about it.


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 3:31:53 PM , Rating: 3
And why were they taken away?

Because they BROKE THE LAW .

What don't idiots like you understand? You break the law. You get punished. Just like when you're a kid and you do something your mom tells you not to. You get put in the corner which takes away your right to watch TV, run around, etc. Same with prison.

I guess in your mind we just shouldn't have laws. People should be allowed to do whatever they want. Because people like you obviously think society is in the wrong for wanting to punish people for little things like illegal drug use, illegal drug sales, assault, murder, rape, theft, etc.


RE: Win
By geeg on 7/29/2008 7:45:27 PM , Rating: 1
So you think everyone in prison has committed a serious crime, like a rape or a murder. And you think there are two colors which are white and black.
How about some truly innocent people who were framed or put in prison just by mistake. They release a few of them every year due to some new genetic evidences.
And how about Jean Valjean who stole a loaf of bread.. What happened to the police inspector Javert? He committed suicide when he saw no way out between his black and white justice. His classification of right and wrong, nothing in between. His sheepish understanding of the law is the law. So the law is perfect eh? Whoever breaks it must be ...ed - fill the blank there.
So you see, nothing is crystal clear in this universe, not even the atoms/molecules according to the quantum theory.


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 9:51:16 PM , Rating: 2
How are those put into prison unjustly harmed by by what I said? Sure they might have a bad nights sleep and not get the foods they like, but I hardly think that's inhumane.


RE: Win
By robinthakur on 7/30/2008 4:59:40 AM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure prison offers a considerable detterant anymore to be honest. You assume firstly that the person comitting the crime is as rational as you or I (well in the case of FitCamaro, maybe just me), experience says they are usually stupid little people with no education, no life experience and no prospects. This is solved at the grass-roots by improving education *when they are kids*, that at any rate is the easiest time to correct it. Educated children grow up to be more responsible parents who value their education and the cycle continues.

However by the time they graduate to acting against society through committing crimes, they need to be very aware of what happens in Prison. They also need to revoke privileges sufficiently to make them appreciate life in the outside community more. No more sex. Contrary to what people said below where Hard Labour was abandoned due to a fear of violence using the tools as weapons, I think this is an excellent idea and should be brought back. If you have enough restrictions on movement and enough guards it makes sense. If you also put the convicts to use doing jobs nobody else really wants to do (excluding illegals) then you might start to see some progress or building things you might see some progress. Maybe teach them things with a more creative softer bent like landscaping or knitting (I don't know!) which they might grow to enjoy more than car-jacking or raping people, and map out a future goal which they can visualise to reach the next step of rehabilitation.


RE: Win
By superkdogg on 7/29/2008 12:43:06 PM , Rating: 3
So, the POV is, "He committed a crime and shouldn't get any benefit from it." I understand that.

The counter POV is, "He's getting out in 4 years. Do we want a better citizen, or a guy who spent 4 years thinking about how not to get caught next time?" Even though there's no guarantee you get the desired outcome, the risk/reward ratio is well worth offerring the opportunity.

People who get excited about the 'ammenities' of a prison need to look at the real cost of that versus their own dis-idealized idea of a prison. They need to realize that stark prisons are not a deterrent. Pretty much nobody on the outside thinks prisons are a decent place to live. Studies show that the actual deterrents to crime are mostly within the umbrella of 'certainty you'll get caught.' Very few people commit crimes they think will get them imprisoned, thus the conditions of the prison are not on their mind as a reason to refrain. However, people are free to ignore the research and stick to their guns if they want.

From my point of view, if I'm going to pay for somebody's imprisonment on a non-violent crime (a whole different issue) I would prefer to get something back for the investment. The significant costs of a prison are building and maintaining the buildings as well as paying the guard staff and those costs don't change whether or not there is education and workout gear available. It's a very small portion of the operating budget invested in providing an inmate at least the idea of doing something besides criminal acts when they get released.

Specific to workout equipment, I haven't seen data on it, but I'd be surprised if that doesn't SAVE taxpayer money. There's a reason that most employers offer a discount on health insurance if somebody can document they go to a gym....


RE: Win
By foolsgambit11 on 7/29/2008 1:32:45 PM , Rating: 2
Here, here! I was going to say the same thing. It costs around $25,000 per annum to imprison someone in the US. Roughly. If we spend an extra $1,000 per person on them for rehabilitation, and it only works 5% of the time, that's still saving us money. Without even considering the tax revenue from the former inmate becoming a contributing member of society.


RE: Win
By jimbojimbo on 7/29/2008 3:27:22 PM , Rating: 2
Here's an idea. If someone gets sentenced how about we pay them $25,000 x years cash right out plus give them free tuition to a state school of their choice and free gym membership, since that supposedly saves us money. That's basically what we're doing. And you know what's funny? I was being sarcastic but if we paid someone like that odds are they'll stay away from crime for a while because then they can.

First offense, prison. Second offense, a guarantee there will never be third offense.


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 3:44:37 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
First offense, prison. Second offense, a guarantee there will never be third offense.


Damn right.


RE: Win
By SouthCA on 7/29/2008 6:17:48 PM , Rating: 2
I've always thought we should outsource our prisoners to some other country where it's dirt cheap to house them. You get a ticket back to the states when your sentence is up.


RE: Win
By Diesel Donkey on 7/29/2008 10:13:17 PM , Rating: 2
Hmmm...how about Gitmo?


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 3:42:18 PM , Rating: 1
No. I want him to be so afraid of ever going to jail again because it sucked so bad, he won't want to come back. Fear is the strongest motivator there is for not doing something.

Criminals don't fear prison anymore. It's a weekend getaway with the luxuries they have there. Many criminals eat better than some law-abiding families. Is that right? Especially when said law-abiding family is paying for the f*cking meal.

Criminals deserve a hard bed, the bare minimum for food, and nothing else. The biggest thing they should have to look forward to in their day in prison is walking around an empty courtyard surrounded by armed guards, attack dogs, and razor wired fences. Not playing sports, reading magazines, watching TV, watching movies, etc.

I've no problem with family members sending gifts though because it doesn't come out of the pockets of the tax payers. And if they want to do something to better their lives, they should have to pay for it. Not me and you. If you want to start a criminal scholarship program though, go ahead. Otherwise if they continue to commit crimes, they eventually should be executed. Not continue to be allowed to be a burden on society.

The opportunities for education in this country are nearly endless. Both growing up and as an adult. I have no pity for a criminal who blames his crimes on his lack of education.


RE: Win
By The Irish Patient on 7/29/2008 5:01:09 PM , Rating: 3
As long as we're all venting spleen, what I want is for prison to provide a certainty of long hours of hard labor on a rigid schedule. I don't care if the work consists of digging a hole, filling it up, then digging the same hole again.

Ninety percent of success is just showing up on time and being ready to work. You want to rehabilitate a person who has chosen to make a living by being a criminal, that is the one lesson that society needs to pound into them. The rest is up to them.


RE: Win
By Darkefire on 7/29/2008 5:44:14 PM , Rating: 5
They use to do this (hard labor), until the inmates figured out that a shovel or a pickaxe makes a damned good weapon. A few dead inmates/guards later, and you'll find it's safer to ditch the idea.

People commonly make the mistake that "prisoner" equates to "career criminal." There's no rehabilitating someone who's chosen to earn their wages by relieving you of yours. They will continue the cycle of breaking the law, getting caught, and spending a few years in prison eating and sleeping off your dime. And there's not a damned thing you can do about it, except take solace in the fact that the longer they spend in there means the less they're out with us.

The people who we want to rehabilitate are the first-timers, the scared kids who made a dumb mistake. Many of them have never had parents or money or opportunities; despite what your middle-class upbringing tells you, there's very little opportunity with no dad, a mother that spends her welfare checks on drugs, and a public school where the only thing that gets crammed into you is a fist or a switchblade. I want these kids to be scared out of their minds (they're in prison: check) and be taught how to succeed in life by the biggest authority possible. So long as I'm paying for his room and board, I don't mind tossing down a couple extra bucks for some textbooks.

As for the rest of them, lock 'em up tight with just enough "luxuries" to keep them from going insane and becoming a permanent burden on the state (and my taxes). Which, if you've ever seen a Supermax facility, they already do. And I wish everyone would stop trying to take the moral high road; we've all done something in our lives that could potentially land us in jail, and I'm betting you won't be a fan of harsh prisons if you by chance wind up in one someday.


RE: Win
By EricMartello on 7/29/2008 5:54:04 PM , Rating: 2
Well said, Darkefire. :)


RE: Win
By PWNettle on 7/29/2008 7:22:14 PM , Rating: 2
I won't disagree that trying to do something to better the convict is a nobel cause, but I still think it's sick and wrong that a lot of prisoners have it better than law abiding citizens who work their butts off and have a lower standard of living. Maybe all those dollars you want to spend should go to improving the quality of life and educational opportunities for those who didn't end up in prison instead?

But at some point you need to expect people to be somewhat responsible for themselves, otherwise you end up with people being resentful of paying taxes for all the social programs and/or you end up with an irresponsible government putting your country $500b in debt.

America has always been the land of opportunity and there's more of it than ever, but you can't force people to seize the day if they're unmotivated and uninterested.


RE: Win
By FITCamaro on 7/29/2008 9:57:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
we've all done something in our lives that could potentially land us in jail,


Speak for yourself. I've done 140 mph in a 70. But that hardly puts you in prison. For a night in the local lockup maybe.


RE: Win
By xsilver on 7/29/2008 11:08:01 PM , Rating: 2
If you're so perfect, maybe you should run for a sainthood.

btw. where Im from, doing double the speed limit (high speed dangerous driving) does have a maximum penalty of 24 months jail.


RE: Win
By MamiyaOtaru on 7/30/2008 1:23:13 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I've done 140 mph in a 70. But that hardly puts you in prison.

Maybe not, but it does make you a rear end in a top hat. Seriously, what are you doing on my roads? I helped pay for those and I didn't do it so you could fulfill some juvenile fantasy on them by driving like a tard and endangering my life. 24 months sounds about right.


RE: Win
By Noya on 7/30/2008 9:01:19 AM , Rating: 2
No less in a Camaro , otherwise known as a large engine strapped to a POS chassis with subpar brakes.


RE: Win
By Shimyr on 7/30/2008 2:27:46 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
Fear is the strongest motivator there is for not doing something.


That's one of the most naive statements I've heard in a long time. If fear was an appropriate motivation for not committing crimes, our prisons wouldn't be overflowing.

Fear is only a strong motivator if you are a child and can't rationalize any other justification for your actions than merely because somebody who may or may not speak for your community said it's not ok. Many people commit crimes out of desperation and hopelessness and not purely out of sloth and malice. While this is not an excuse for their actions, it's not unreasonable to think that someone who is given a decent chance at a better way of life through respectable means would rather choose this path if they had an opportunity for redemption.

By given these convicts an education and insight into crime-free ways of attaining success, we can motivate them to achieve those same goals they reached for through criminal actions by becoming productive, upstanding members of society.

It won't always work, and we certainly don't need to coddle them while they are rehabilitating, but we must realize that all people want basically the same thing, which is to have their needs securely met and hopefully find happiness along the way.


RE: Win
By caqde on 7/30/2008 3:07:02 AM , Rating: 2
...............

There are so many flaws in your statement I don't know where to start.

quote:
Fear is the strongest motivator there is for not doing something.

Uhm no. It is a strong motivator yes, but the outcome is random. Because of this it will not always work. Inflict an "unhealthy" amount of fear and expect to be attacked. People will only go so far before they break and once they do... The outcome is in the air.

To make clear what I am talking about a criminal that gets out of prison that doesn't want to go back, but is unsure of how to put himself in a position where he doesn't need to "resort" to criminal activities will likely arm himself so that he can "protect" himself from the police so he doesn't get caught and thrown in jail.

quote:
Criminals deserve a hard bed, the bare minimum for food, and nothing else. The biggest thing they should have to look forward to in their day in prison is walking around an empty courtyard surrounded by armed guards, attack dogs, and razor wired fences. Not playing sports, reading magazines, watching TV, watching movies, etc.


Actually I would rather have this money spent on educated those that are willing to be reeducated. I don't know how much of a choice they give them when they throw them in jail, but I doubt the choice is really high more likely almost non existent. A state funded Community College/Prison would be nice. A college that gives no more then the bare essentials to eat and go to school. Classes should be more like a college prep school educating the student/prisoners just enough so that they can get into a real college and have the knowledge they need to take the steps necessary to get enrolled in the college/university/etc they want to go to so they can be useful members of society. (And taxpayers)


RE: Win
By EricMartello on 7/29/2008 5:51:37 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Every American in prison already had the same opportunity you did to become a contributing member of society. What have they done to deserve to have us pay yet again for them to have a second chance at an education?

And its not like all criminals are uneducated. This guy certainly is.

If they want an education in prison, they should have to pay for it. Same as anyone who is not in prison.


Living in America means you're accepting that you will have to pay for the 'maintenance' of this society - i.e. criminals and our shoddy legal system. Simply because someone breaks the rules doesn't invalidate them from deserving an real chance to improve...and are you gonna tell me nobody ever offered you a second chance after you fkd up? Of course, a second chance is fair game but a third chance is going a bit too far.

If you feel that people should be judged and dealt with on the spot, and severely, maybe you need to move to Africa or perhaps to the Middle East. :) You won't get stuck paying for social programs, but if someone thinks you broke a law, you may find yourself missing a limb or two. On the flip side, if you want to continue living in America, don't whine about the price of living here. If it was cheap it would be as great of a country as it is.


RE: Win
By bldckstark on 7/30/2008 12:41:57 PM , Rating: 1
Not every american has the same opportunities you did. I was a prison guard for two years after every corporation in the country slammed it's doors on hiring after Billary unveiled her health care initiative during the first term of Slick Willy's presidency.

Most of the offenders (convicts) have come from abusive and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. A high percentage are psychologically imbalanced and have no access to mental health care.

Many are dirtbag jerks who should be in prison forever because they will never be decent members of society. But as any intelligent person knows, to sterotype any group of people such as you did only shows how ignorant you are. It certainly does not help persuade people to your train of thought.


RE: Win
By bldckstark on 7/30/2008 12:59:33 PM , Rating: 2
And every one of you that has stated that people in prison with three hots and a cot, with cable and some free weights thinks they have it better than poor people in this country couldn't be more wrong. I would rather be hungry and living in a box in an alley than be in prison. I have been there. I have seen death row. I have seen supermax prison cells. I have seen someone knifed with a razor blade that was melted into a tooth brush handle. I have seen men punked. I have seen grown men cry from fear. I have known straight men who resorted to paying male prostitutes just to get some semblance of sex. I have held the shotgun that keeps these men behind the wire.

You would not believe the depth of the feelings you get in your gut when you see the faces of the men who know you will kill them if they get too close to an arbitrary location on the ground.


Seriously.. what the hell?
By LexGoyle on 7/30/2008 3:25:59 PM , Rating: 2
Some of you are all pretty vindictive ***holes. Execute a criminal? Reserve that for the ones that purposely murder someone in cold blood. Theft and other petty crimes really are not worth having someone put in prison for when there's plenty of other ways to go about it that won't cost taxpayers quite so much. What about all those drunk drivers that get off the hook with a slap on the wrist after hitting another driver? Talking from experience here.

Some n00b wants to sell software on ebay and gets caught. Cool. Zap his credit, have him pay a huge fine to Intuit, have him do 4 years of community service instead of paying for his room and board in a prison. Of course there's the identity theft. How about some time in county lockup for that instead of a nice federal prison for a reasonable amount of time.

The point is alot of you are with the gun-ho justice it's sickening. Again, i'm talking about your views on how to handle non-violent criminals. Seriously, someone writes a few bad checks to a corporation that truthfully isn't going to hurt much from it since they get tax write-offs for losses shouldn't be spending time in a prison where he may ultimately be raped and/or beaten and possibly killed by other inmates. That's the problem with society today is alot of us are so quick to wish that sort of harm on someone who in reality did not do something THAT bad. Bad, of course. But nothing like child rape or murder just to name two examples. And for the idiot who went 140 in a 70... yeah, you need a good 24 months of lockup in county for that crap. It's asinine to go THAT fast on a highway and you yourself are as guilty as any murderer out there should you collide with someone at that speed. ****ing idiot. Keep it to the damn tracks.

Anyway, i'm gettin` off my soapbox now. Some of you guys really need to chill on the vigilante justice when it comes to non-violent crimes. Reserve it for those who murder without probable cause such as self defense.




RE: Seriously.. what the hell?
By EricMartello on 7/31/2008 1:42:11 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, I agree with your sentiments for the most part. Too many people are so quick to judge others...but I'm willing to bet that many of the people here riding high would sing a different tune if they're the ones in the cross-hairs.

Software piracy is a victimless crime, for all intents and purposes...and should be treated as such. Jail time should be reserved for individuals who pose a serious threat to other people - rapists, murderers and other violent criminals.


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