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Pirate App Rings Busted, 6 Charged in Georgia
Three federal indictments were unsealed in the Northern District of Georgia, charging six members of three different piracy groups – Appbucket, Applanet and SnappzMarket – for their roles in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android mobile device applications, or ‘apps.’
According to the indictments, the defendants made millions of dollars by distributing over one million copies of copyrighted Android apps without permission from the copyright owners, who would otherwise sell copies of the apps on legitimate online markets for a fee.
Two members of the SnappzMarket Group – Joshua Ryan Taylor, 24, of Kentwood, Michigan, and Scott Walton, 28, of Cleveland, Ohio – were arrested today. Taylor will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ellen S. Carmody in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Walton will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge William H. Baughman, Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio.
As a result of their criminal efforts to make money by ripping off the hard work and creativity of high-tech innovators, the defendants are charged with illegally distributing copyrighted apps.
The indictments were the direct result of an extensive and thorough federal investigation into three groups of individuals aggressively engaged in and profiting from the theft of intellectual property.
The FBI will continue to provide significant investigative resources toward such groups engaged in wholesale pirating or copyright violations.
The indictments also charged Gary Edwin Sharp II, 26, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, and also charged him with two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
Sharp, Taylor, and Walton identified themselves as members of the SnappzMarket Group. From May 2011 through August 2012, they conspired with Kody Jon Peterson, 22, of Clermont, Florida, and other members of the SnappzMarket Group to reproduce and distribute over one million copies of copyrighted Android mobile device apps, with a total retail value of over $1.7 million, through the SnappzMarket alternative online market without permission from the copyright owners of the apps.
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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