Local men admit to piracy involvement

By Kelly Rayburn
Daily Bruin Senior Staf

A UCLA computer programmer and another Los Angeles resident, who
prosecutors said were members of an Internet piracy ring, pleaded
guilty Thursday to copyright infringement.

Twenty-six year old Mike Nguyen, the computer programmer, and
30-year-old Kentaga Kartadinata will be sentenced at a later date
and will likely face between 27 and 33 months in prison each.

The two belonged to a group called DrinkorDie, which was founded
in Russia in 1993 before spreading to the United States. Piracy
rings such as this one remove security protections from software
programs, thus enabling numerous files to be distributed over the
Internet.

Nguyen, who managed several DrinkorDie’s file servers that
contained thousands of pirated software titles, could not be
reached for comment. Phone calls to the Custom Officials press
office Sunday afternoon were not returned.

Prosecutors said they expect to indict at least 50 other
DrinkorDie members in the near future.

In December, U.S. Custom Service officials raided UCLA and other
major universities, businesses and residences, seizing more than
129 computers.

The computers were allegedly used by members of the Warez
community, which the Customs Service describes as “a loosely
affiliated network of software piracy gangs that engage in the
duplication and reproduction of copyrighted software over the
Internet.”

Piracy costs the software industry an estimated $12 billion per
year worldwide, according to the Business Software Alliance, and
DrinkorDie is responsible for about $5 billion of that loss.

After the December raid, UCLA released a statement saying it is
working in full cooperation with Customs Service to combat
piracy.

Software policy violates the Criminal Copyright Infringement Act
and the No Electronic Theft Act.

With reports from The Associated Press.