Rainer Wittich, Pirated Mercedes-Benz Software, Louisiana 2014

WASHINGTON – An aftermarket auto parts distributor in Harahan, Louisiana, pleaded guilty today to manufacturing and selling over 800 copyright-infringing copies of Mercedes-Benz diagnostic software valued at over $17 million.

The Brinson Company, and its owner, Rainer Wittich, 66, of River Ridge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown of the Eastern District of Louisiana to an information charging them, respectively, with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and to violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and criminal copyright infringement.

The crime occurred in 2001 and continued until June 2010. Wittich owned TBC, which sold replacement parts and diagnostic equipment for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. According to TBC’s plea agreement, beginning in about 2001, in conjunction with two other companies, TBC began developing, manufacturing and selling non-authentic versions of the Mercedes-Benz Star Diagnostic System (SDS), a portable tablet-type computer that contains proprietary software created by Mercedes-Benz to diagnose and repair its automobiles and that requires a code or “license key” to access.

TBC admitted that, without authorization, it obtained Mercedes-Benz SDS software and updates, modified and duplicated the software, and installed the software on laptop computers (which served as the SDS units). A genuine SDS unit sold for up to $22,000, and purchasers of the SDS paid Mercedes-Benz several thousands of dollars per year to receive regular software updates. According to TBC’s plea agreement, a non-authentic SDS unit sold for up to $11,000.

TBC admitted that, in total, it sold approximately 725 non-authentic SDS devices, and that one of its co-conspirators sold at least 95 devices. The case was investigated by the Cyber Task Force of the FBI’s New Orleans Division. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Counsel Evan Williams of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Ginsberg and Myles Ranier of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2015. As part of its plea agreement, TBC agreed to assist Mercedes-Benz in compiling a list of all customers to whom it sold, distributed, donated or otherwise provided the pirated software.

The enforcement action announced today is related to the many efforts being undertaken by the IP Task Force. To learn more about the IP Task Force, go to www.justice.gov/dag/iptaskforce.

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