By John Oates for The
Register
This article has been reproduced from The Register, with
permission.
Chan Nai-ming was found guilty of infringing copyright after he
made three films available. Hong Kong police claim he is the first
person charged with copyright offences as a result of using
BitTorrent. BitTorrent enables large files to be distributed by
breaking them up into smaller files and using peer-to-peer
delivery. It holds no central database of files.
The 38-year old man put Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss
Congeniality onto the network, according to the BBC.
Nai-ming was freed on bail of HK$5,000 (£362) and must return to
court for sentencing 7 November. The maximum sentence under Hong
Kong law is four years in prison and a fine.
Hong Kong Customs was quoted by AFX and BBC saying that illegal
file-sharing had fallen 80 per cent since the arrest which suggests
a chronic lack of illegal material in the administrative
region.
© The Register
2005
