Pirated software. Herald File Picture

Pirated software. Herald File Picture

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

New Zealand software pirates risk extradition to the United States following a ground-breaking ruling against an Australian man accused of pirating software, games and music worth up to US$50 million.

Mark Kelly, senior associate at Auckland's Simpson Grierson, said the Hew Raymond Griffiths case in Australia confirmed that people based in one country and accused of software piracy could be brought to justice in another under extradition law.

Locally, Microsoft has led the charge against software piracy and brought prosecutions against individuals infringing its copyright.

The largest software piracy cases involve hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kelly said the United States was on an international hunt for internet pirates.

US crime agencies fought hard to obtain an order to extradite Griffiths following an unsuccessful attempt where an Australian magistrate denied their extradition request.

The US appealed against that decision and has now won the right to try Griffiths in the US.

Kelly said that ringleader Griffiths, who went under the online name BanDiDo, was an Australian who had never been to the US.

He said the case was making Australian legal history because it was the first extradition case under copyright law.

"This case confirms that internet pirates based in one country are not always safe from the laws of other countries."

Griffiths has been charged in the US with conspiracy to infringe copyright and copyright infringement, for reproducing without authority and distributing software protected by copyright on the internet.

The US alleges that Griffiths was the ringleader of an internet group called DrinkorDie which allegedly worked from a computer network at Boston's Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Griffiths helped to control access to the network, though it is not alleged that he made money from his activities.

Eleven DrinkOrDie members already have been convicted in the US.

Kelly said Griffiths' alleged infringements all took place on his home computer in Australia.

Should the extradition and trial proceed he faced up to 10 years in an American jail and a fine of up to US$500,000.

Wayne Hudson, Software Exporters Association president, said his organisation would watch the developments with interest.