Aug 30 2005

Man behind online file-sharing hub pleads guilty to theft

  • Written by
  • No Comments


LOS ANGELES — A man who ran an Internet file-sharing hub where computer users could swap movie, music and software files has pleaded guilty to grand theft, prosecutors said Friday.

Jed Frederick Kobles, 34, pleaded guilty to a single felony count. His conviction represents the first in a criminal Internet file-sharing case in the state, according to the Los Angeles County’s district attorney’s office. Kobles, who lived in Los Angeles when he was arrested, has since moved to Las Vegas.

According to the original complaint against Kobles, he operated an online file-sharing hub known as UTB Smokinghouse under the name Raging8.

Over four days in January, Kobles and other unidentified conspirators made films like "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and "National Treasure" available on the Internet for others to download without permission.

To have access to the free content on Kobles’ hub, computer users had to have their own selection of content that they were willing to make available. An undercover investigator who gained entry into the file-sharing ring downloaded more than 14 movies, TV shows and music videos, prosecutors said.

Kobles faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 20.

 

Related

  1. Man involved with BitTorrent (site EliteTorrents) pleads guilty to copyright theft
  2. Hong Kong man pleads innocent to copyright charge by sharing movies online
  3. Accused Piracy Leader Pleads Guilty
  4. DVD ‘Hacker’ Pleads Not Guilty in Piracy Appeal
  5. Man Who Uploaded Pre-Broadcast Episodes of “24″ Pleads Guilty
Zeropaid on Facebook

Trackbacks url:

Leave a Comment...



  • Advertisement

    Giganews Newsgroups


  • RJH: The US government will cease to exist before file sharing does. I would bet anything on that....
  • dave: fucking hypocrite. Supposedly standing up for human rights all over the world but wants to adopt totalitarian Internet c...
  • Pirate Home Page » IFPI Claims “3-Strikes” Can Remove Single User, Not Household: [...] Spokesperson also tells audience at the Congressional Internet Caucus’ State of the Net conference that ther...
  • Pirate Home Page » ACTA Falling Apart?: [...] ACTA has been called many things over the years since it was first leaked online, but an all around failure was ce...
  • Niklas Starow: Manual pingback http://dnmr.blogg.se/2010/february/acta-falling-apart-thanks-to-internet-activis.html...
  • @collentine: Interesting but might as well be the opposite with all the secrecy surrounding it....
  • Prove It: Since when has anyone believed the MPAA or RIAA to promote open transparency? This article doesn't submit any FACTS,...
  • chickmagnet 43: awesomer...
  • sdsd