Two British men have been jailed for pirating music on DancingJesus.com (not affiliated with Homer Simpsons’ site of the same name), with its owner and founder being jailed for just under 3 years.
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Kane Robinson, 26, of North Shields, North Tyneside, was hit with a sentence of 2 years and 8 months after he admitted to the Newcastle Crown Court that he had illegally distributed music via Dancing Jesus. Richard Graham, 22, of Astley, Leicestershire, faces a sentence of 21 months after also illegally distributing thousands of music files through the site.
Robinson, who founded the website in his bedroom, was arrested by the City of London Police who worked alongside US Homeland Security, after it was discovered that the site’s servers were based in Dallas, Texas.
Piracy is not a victimless crime.
Speaking to the Guardian, David Wood of the BPI’s Copyright Protection Unit said: “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to the operators and users of illegal music sites that online piracy is a criminal activity that will not be tolerated by law enforcement in the UK or overseas.
“Piracy – particularly pre-release – can make or break an artist’s career, and can determine whether a record label is able to invest in that crucial second or third album.
“In this day and age, with so many quality digital music services available, offering access to millions of tracks through free and premium tiers, there is no good reason to use pirate sites that give nothing back to artists and offer a sub-standard experience for consumers.
“Speaking as a music fan, it just doesn’t make sense to help criminals when you can support artists.”
Judge Deborah Sherwin told Robinson and the Newcastle Crown Court that piracy “wasn’t a victimless crime”, though Robinson stated that he had made barely any money from the site since its invention.
DancingJesus.com has now been pulled from the internet.
