PHOENIX - An Arizona university student is believed to be the first person in the country to be convicted of a crime under state laws for illegally downloading music and movies from the Internet, prosecutors and activists say.
University of Arizona student Parvin Dhaliwal pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit marks, or unauthorized copies of intellectual property.
Under an agreement with prosecutors, Dhaliwal was sentenced last month to a three-month deferred jail sentence, three years of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $5,400 fine. The judge in the case also ordered him to take a copyright class at the University of Arizona, which he attends, and to avoid file-sharing computer programs.
The article goes on to note that federal investigators referred him to the local county attorney's office so that he'd be prosecuted under state laws, which have lesser punishments than federal copyright laws, in part because he was a minor when he committed the crimes. It also notes that he had downloaded movies that were not yet available on DVD, and then copied them and sold the copies.