Jul 4 2007

Man Who Uploaded Pre-Broadcast Episodes of “24″ Pleads Guilty

  • Written by soulxtc
  • No Comments



Infamously uploadeded the first four episodes of Fox’s "24" series 8 days before it was scheduled to broadcast on Network TV.

A Chicago man pleaded guilty yesterday to a felony charge for posting the first four episodes of this season’s "24" on the Internet before they were originally aired on the Fox television network earlier this year.

Jorge Romero, 25, admitted that he uploaded the first two episodes of this season’s "24" to the LiveDigital.com website on January 6 – eight days before it was broadcast on Fox. Romero also admitted uploading the second two episodes of "24" to the same website on January 7. Romero further admitted that, after uploading the episodes, he publicized the uploads by providing links on other publicly available sites, including Digg.com. Fox broadcast the first four episodes of "24" on January 14 and 15, and subsequently released the four-episode season premier on DVD.

The case began when Fox employees saw the yet-to-be released episodes on LiveDigital.com prior to the release date. After investigators determined that the accounts used to upload the episodes were assigned to Romero and his family, law enforcement agents obtained a search warrant for Romero’s home. During the search, agents seized a computer on which they found evidence that Romero uploaded the stolen materials. The agents also interviewed Romero, who acknowledged his role in the scheme.

Fox has reported that its losses from this infringement exceeded $4 million USD.

Romero pleaded guilty to uploading copyrighted material to a publicly accessible computer network knowing the work was intended for commercial distribution, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of three years in federal prison.

Romero pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on September 10.

Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
OiNK Moves its Domain to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Bye Bye TorrentSpy and ISOHunt, Both Plan to Start Filtering Copyrighted Content
BREIN trying to shut down Demonoid
Tips on how to not get busted for file-sharing
3 Quick Ways to Watch Movies for FREE!
3 Quick ways to watch TV shows for FREE
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
Azureus – A Beginner’s Guide to BitTorrent Downloading
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading
Watch The Simpsons, The Office, Jackass, South Park, Lost, X-Men, and More, On-Demand For Free

Trackbacks url:

Leave a Comment...

Giganews Newsgroups



  • fred_anon2000: It will be cracked like all the others....
  • God: Here are a couple of invites for demonoid, but whoever grabs these takes them with the responsibility of always maintain...
  • French Broadcaster Sued for Firing Employee Based on HADOPI Stance: [...] the story of an e-mail heard around the world. You may remember Jérôme Bourreau-Guggenheim who expressed opposit...
  • mal greenborg: You could just as easily distributed your music via http or ftp. P2P does not promote music, it is a distributution medi...
  • mal greenborg: I said exactly. How does the distribution medium of p2p benefit your music? Seeding a torrent doesn't promote your music...
  • mal greenborg: If usenet hadn't turned into a cesspit of spam and file sharing, and if my ISP still gave me nntp access, I'd care. But ...
  • mal greenborg: Leave it to corporate stooges the EFF to support AT&T's huge profit margin over the rights of songwriters. What a ...
  • With the almost–guaranteed demise of Th… | Tech Blogger Philippines: [...] the almost–guaranteed demise of The Pirate Bay, here’s a list of five alternatives you can consider. ...
  • sdsd