Man Sentenced in Piracy Case
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A Sherman Oaks man was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation for selling pirated copies of the former HBO series “Sex and the City” on the Internet.
William Jefferson Philputt, 33, also was ordered to pay $817 in restitution to the Motion Picture Assn. of America and serve six months’ home confinement. Philputt pleaded guilty to one felony count of copyright infringement.
An FBI raid on Philputt’s apartment this year also turned up illegally duplicated films such as “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and the “Star Wars” trilogy.
According to the FBI, Philputt would obtain the copies using a satellite “unlooper,” a hardware device connected to a computer that allows a DirecTV access card to be illegally reprogrammed to receive signals.
Prosecutors alleged Philputt would then copy shows and movies from the DirecTV satellite feeds and sell his DVDs on EBay.
Philputt, who had no previous criminal history, is the latest defendant prosecuted for movie and television piracy as part of a growing federal crackdown.
Although probation may seem a light sentence, Assistant U.S. Atty. Elena Duarte said, Philputt now has a permanent record.
“No matter how much time they are getting they will have to live with a felony conviction,” she said.
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