A Florida man is facing 15 months in jail, and a $415,000 fine - for pirating NES games. After his jail time he will have to serve 50 hours of community service, by telling people why they shouldn't pirate.

We all know piracy is illegal -- like, go to jail and pay huge fines illegal -- but it never hurts to get a little reminder. If you don't believe us, ask Kifah Maswadi, no, better yet, attend one of his forthcoming lectures focusing on the perils of copyright infringement. The 24 year-old Florida man has recently been sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $415,000, according to Games Press. After serving his time in prison, Maswadi will face three years of supervised release and "perform 50 hours of community service, which includes educating the public on the perils of copyright infringement.

Maswadi was busted in April, 2007 when FBI agents raided his home after a year-long investigation surrounding the sale of the 'Power Player,' an illegal game console containing 76 built-in games, most of which are copyright protected titles from the NES or Famicom. Like Yonathan Cohen of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who was also arrested on similar charges, Maswadi presumably purchased the product from Chinese wholesalers for $7 to $9 each and sold them for $23.99 or $47.99, depending on the model. The Feds estimate that Maswadi earned around $390,000 from selling the units, which makes us ask, "who the hell actually bought these, and why?"

Twisted via gamepolitics.com »