Gilberto Sanchez Gets 1 Year in Prison for Uploading Wolverine to Megaupload.com

Gilberto Sanchez has been sentenced to one year in prison.  Believe it or not.

Personally I think it’s rather harsh, but the law is the law, and they are making an example out of Sanchez…..and doing a very good job at it.

In 2009 Sanchez, a 49 year old Glass installer, brought a boot leg copy of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” from a man on the street in the Bronx near his house.  He then uploaded it to the internet – he is now going to jail for 1 year.

As he told the story, he purchased the movie from a Korean guy on the street.  After the guy proved the digital quality Sanchez brought the movie for $5.00 and took it home.  He then watched the movie with his Grandchildren before uploading it on the site Megaupload.com.  Remember, this was the raw edit version, it even showed the wires holding Wolverine during the action scenes.

Under the screen name “SkillyGilly,” he went on forums and got his props by providing the link to the Megaupload files.  He was warned that the movie wasn’t out yet but the internet was getting flooded with copies so Sanchez did not worry….and continued to leave his digital trail of bread crumbs.

8 months later at 6:00 AM he was awaken by the FBI and arrested.

U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. reiterated that the sentencing was harsh to send a message,

The federal prison sentence handed down in this case sends a strong message of deterrence to would-be Internet pirates, The Justice Department will pursue and prosecute persons who seek to steal the intellectual property of this nation.”

The bigger deal was that the film was leaked online before it made its way to the theaters.  Some experts say that this could have possibly assisted in the $373 million that the film grossed worldwide.

When he was arrested he gave the statement,

“It’s just ridiculous. I bought it from a Korean guy on the street for five bucks. Then I uploaded it. I didn’t make any money,”

Fox was able to get the file removed in 24 hours but it’s been reported that millions of infringements had already incurred.

The origin source of the file was never found.  All of that trouble, and One Year in a Federal lock up for a $5.00 boot-leg.  Let this be a warning…those FBI warnings are NO JOKE!!

-COSMO