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A man from Indiana was sentenced to 27 months in the US federal prison yesterday, for selling over $700,000 worth of counterfeit computer software via the eBay Internet auction website. The man identified as Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Indiana, pleaded guilty of violation of criminal copyright infringement laws, and was thus sentenced in the US District Court in Indiana.

At the sentencing which took place on Wednesday, Smith admitted in front of the court that he had bought illegally copied Rockwell Automation computer software through eBay, after which he duplicated and resold the software (still copyright protected), to other eBay users.

Between March 6 and May 26, 2004, Smith sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in over 32 separate eBay auctions. Totally, he received $4,149.97 for these transactions. According to a release from the US Department of Justice, the actual retail value of this software was in excess of &700,000.

According to Assistant US Attorney, Steve DeBrota, “This kind of scheme is a recognized problem and fairly wide spread. This problem has significantly increased over time. An increasing number of businesses are seeking out and buying counterfeit software to save some money.”

BeBrota also mentioned that besides, Rockwell Automation who was hurt by this fraud, the people and entire companies who bought and sold the counterfeit software could also be liable.