AU students' piracy sentencing deferred - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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AU students' piracy sentencing deferred

By James Pearce, ZDNet Australia
November 18, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/AU-students-piracy-sentencing-deferred/0,139023166,120281121,00.htm

The sentencing of three students associated with the copyright-infringing Web site MP3 WMA Land has been stood down till 2pm due to intense media scrutiny.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson told a packed courtroom at a local court hearing in Sydney this morning that in order for the matter to be reported fairly and accurately in the press, he would issue the sentences for the three men this afternoon and hand out copies of documents detailing the sentence.

Charles Ng, Tommy Le and Peter Tran were charged earlier this year over copyright infringing acts in relation to a Web site dubbed MP3 WMA Land, which offered illegal music files for download. The maximum penalties for the offence is up to five years in jail and/or an AU$60,500 fine.

This is the first prosecution brought against this scale of activity, according to the lawyer representing Ng, and the penalty would "send a very clear message to the world about how the courts regard this activity".

All three defendants pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

ZDNet Australia will report on the sentencing.