Two Convicted of eBay Software Piracy

Two individuals have plead guilty for their involvement in selling almost $6 million worth of software through the eBay auction site, the Justice Department said Monday.

In separate cases, Robert Koster of Jonesboro, Ark., and Yutaka Yamamoto of Pico Rivera, Calif. both plead guilty to selling counterfeit software produced by Rockwell Automation.

Each could face up to five years in prison, $250,000 in fines, and three years of supervised release. Another four defendants would join the two in November of this year to face sentencing together in front of U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Stadtmuller, the DOJ said.

Rockwell Automation produces factory management software. Together the two were responsible for nearly 200 auctions between September 2003 and September 2004, of which they made nearly $30,000 in profits from.

Seven others have been convicted as part of the same piracy ring to distribute the company's software, and it is said that the actual value of Rockwell software sold is about $30 million.

Six of the convictions originated in Wisconsin, while two were handed down in the Eastern District of Michigan and one from the Southern District of Indiana.