A Sydney-based man who uploaded the first known pirated copy of The Simpsons Movie to the internet after recording it on his mobile phone has been fined $1,000, after his lawyer described him as having “the sophistication of a dead fish”.
Jose Duarte, 21, pleaded guilty in a Sydney magistrates court to a charge of distributing copyright material He had been arrested in August following an international tracking operation involving Rupert Murdoch’s Fox movie studio, which owns the rights to the movie.
 Click to enlarge |
Prosecutor Chuan Ng said the movie was downloaded 3213 times in the few hours it was available on the Internet.
“It would appear that this young man had the sophistication of a dead fish,” said defence lawyer Ken Stewart.
“I have sat and spent time with this young man… I am quite satisfied that he had no idea what he was doing.”
