BitTorrent Feeder Faces Five Years In Pen For Sharing Jar Jar Binks

24 year-old Scott R. McCausland pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and one count of criminal copyright infringement for feeding the now-shuttered BitTorrent site, Elite Torrents, a copy of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
six hours before its theatrical release.

McCausland now faces up to five years in the federal pokey, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release, but won't be sentenced until Dec. 12.

McCausland violated the Family Entertainment Copyright Act by helping 10,000 people download the final Star Wars episode.

According to the feds press release:

McCausland's conviction is the third in a series of convictions arising from Operation D-Elite, a federal crackdown against the first providers (or suppliers) of pirated works to the technologically-sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents. At its prime, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 2 million copies of movies, software, music, and games. On May 25, 2005, federal agents shut down the Elite Torrents network by seizing its main server and replacing its log-in web page with the following notice: "This Site Has Been Permanently Shut Down by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)." Within the first week alone, this message was viewed over half a million times.

I wonder, at sentencing, if the fact that McCausland helped spread a movie that included Jar Jar Binks as a character will be considered 'aggravating circumstances.'

Photo: fuzzcat