The admin for a prolific file-sharing site that helped pirates score more than 1 billion tracks now faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of criminal copyright infringement.
Artur Sargsyan, the 29-year-old owner and operator of ShareBeast, is to be sentenced in Atlanta federal court in December for operating (PDF) what the Recording Industry Association of America said was the most prolific US-based file-sharing site. The defendant also forfeited $185,000 in ill-gotten gains, the government said.
The authorities in 2015 seized the ShareBeast domain and a few others connected to the site, which regularly allowed users to score pre-release music. Sargsyan was charged last month.
"Through ShareBeast and other related sites, this defendant profited by illegally distributing copyrighted music and albums on a massive scale," Atlanta US Attorney John Horn said. "The collective work of the FBI and our international law enforcement partners have shut down the ShareBeast websites and prevented further economic losses by scores of musicians and artists."
The authorities said the site "facilitated the unauthorized distribution and reproduction of over 1 billion copies of copyrighted works."
The US authorities said they had cooperation from agents in the UK and the Netherlands. The authorities said the site did not respond to takedown notices.
Some of the works ShareBeast illegally stored and distributed, the government said, included Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, Pitbull, Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Destiny's Child, Ciara, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber.
Visitors to the ShareBeast site are now greeted with a message from the FBI stating that the site was seized.
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