Between 2001 and 2007, according to the BSA, Ptashne was accused of selling more than 3,000 copies of “cracked” software — software which has been modified by removing protection methods. Prosecutors alleged that the software Ptashne sold during that period had a combined retail value of more than $2 million. Along with the six month prison term, US District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf sentenced Ptashne to three years supervised release and ordered him to pay a $20,000 fine and to forfeit a further $26,700. BSA assisted the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI in its investigation as the case involved numerous software titles from 13 different BSA member companies.

“Congratulations to United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Assistant US Attorney Adam Bookbinder, and Special Agent Warren T. Bamford and his team in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Successful investigations, prosecutions and convictions, like the ones seen in this case, help people become aware of the serious problems that software piracy can pose,” said Paul Fournier, manager of Internet Investigations for BSA.

“Sentences like the one received by Ptashne are more common than many people would like to think and should serve as a word of warning to others selling fraudulent software.”

The Business Software Alliance is the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world. BSA is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace.