Danny Ferrer's Case Study
- Danny Ferrer of Lakeland, Florida did nothing to hide the fact that he was selling illegal software online. In fact, he prominently advertised the sales on popular search engines.
- His venture came to an abrupt halt when the FBI descended upon his operation in late 2005. An FBI investigation determined that Ferrer had been running a for-profit Web site selling counterfeit and illegal copies of software such as Adobe and Autodesk. In fact, Ferrer sold more than $20 million worth of copyrighted software products on www.BuyUSA.com at prices substantially lower than the suggested retail price. “Buy USA was a Web site that I initially set up towards the very, very end of 2002, actually it was more like 2003 where people could purchase copies of some of Adobe’s software, such as Photoshop 7, Illustrator, other high-dollar software at greatly reduced prices.”
- The software products purchased on the Web site were reproduced on CDs and distributed through the mail. On the CD-R discs, Ferrer included labels that featured trademarks of the legitimate software companies and had a serial number that allowed the purchaser to activate and use the product, tactics that were meant to dupe the consumer. Ferrer and his co-conspirators pocketed more than $4.1 million selling copyrighted software that was used to purchase luxury cars, numerous airplanes, a helicopter, and boats. These items were all confiscated by the FBI.
- Ferrer was sentenced in federal court to six years in prison and 50 hours of community service. Additionally, Ferrer had to pay more than $4.1 million in restitution for the nearly $20 million in loss of sales to the software publishers.
Relevant Quote
“You know, what I did was wrong...so I’m very remorseful for what I did. I would almost beg people out there, don’t do this. Don’t do it as a hobby. Don’t do it as a business. Don’t think that it’s OK. It’s not OK and you are going to get caught. You are going to get caught and you are going to pay the price. And the price that you pay is not just going to be financial. You are going to lose your freedom. You are going to lose your family. You are going to lose the respect of your peers. You are going to be a criminal. I am now a convicted felon...”
— Danny Ferrer | Convicted Software Pirate
— Danny Ferrer | Convicted Software Pirate