William Veyna's Case Study
- William Veyna of Witchita Falls, Texas got caught trading, uploading, and downloading copyrighted material.
- Veyna got started by talking in chat rooms and socializing with other individuals online. Veyna soon became part of a group that gave him access to the trading of copyrighted material and became a “site operator,” providing access of copyrighted material to thousands of people online. Veyna was a significant member of a software piracy group that distributed copies software, movies, and games with a combined value of more than $50 million. “Before this, I had a good job at a software company, making $60,000 a year and with a good retirement and pension plan.”
- Through an undercover sting operation, Veyna was caught and given 15 months jail time and ordered to pay $929,000 restitution.
Relevant Quote
”So it really doesn’t matter if you’re somebody that’s selling and making millions off pirated software, or you're just doing it for a friend. Trading, uploading, and downloading illegal software is illegal and it cost me a felony. And every time I go on job interviews, I have to put I have a felony…”
— William Veyna | Convicted Software Pirate