Justin Emch, 27 of Kenmore, Washington has been sentenced to 12 months prison on one felony count of conspiracy to infringe on copyright. He has also been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and serve two years of a supervised release.
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Emch was one of many scene members netted in the April 2004 worldwide bust known as Operation Fastlink. His group Mage was a minor player in the underground application ISO scene who continued to release for over a year after his arrest.
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Incidentally Mage used to include a generic disclaimer in the NFO file of their releases. It would state that the release is copyrighted, and that the warez release was only allowed to be used as a personal backup or archive. This type of disclaimer was quite common in the old BBS pirate scene days during the early 1990s. Obviously disclaimers are nothing more than wasted space.
<p><kbd>MaGE LEGAL DISCLAIMER; It is against the law to reproduce copyrighted material for the purpose of selling it to third parties. US Law only allows for you to make one backup copy of any software or media for personal and archival purposes, which is the ONLY intended use for this software. This program is not meant for those who intend on breaking copyright laws. In no way will we be held responsible if you do. Any other use of this software is strictly prohibited.</kbd></p>