3 Count: Siemens Lawsuits

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1: U.S. Govt: Omi in a Hellcat Should Serve 15.5 Years For Pirate IPTV Scheme

First off today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that the U.S. government is saying that YouTuber and alleged pirate TV operator Bill Omar Carrasquillo, (Omi in a Hellcat) should face over 15 years in prison and be ordered to repay restitution of over $30 million.

Between the years of 2016 and 2019, Carrasquillo and his co-defendants allegedly operated a pirate TV service named Gears TV. It was created by opening fake accounts with various cable providers, then stripping out copyright protection and sending the new feed to subscribers.

In September 2021, a grand jury handed down a 62-count indictment against Carrasquillo. This prompted Carrasquillo to plead guilty to ten counts, including criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud and tax evasion. Those charges carried a maximum sentence of 98 years in prison, though the government is now saying 15 years and 8 months is an appropriate amount. Carrasquillo will be sentenced next month.

2: Company Held Liable for Copyright Infringement After Employee Installs Unlicensed Software

Next up today, Selina Lum at the Straights Times reports that the software company Siemens has won its case against a Singapore-based company over alleged piracy of its NX software.

The NX software is a popular and expensive tool that allows users to create computerized models of a product and develop those products from there. However, Siemens learned about an unlicensed installation of its products and traced it back to a medical device manufacturer, Inzign. There, an employee eager to learn how to use the software installed an unauthorized copy on his company computer, after taking the computer of his toolroom manager.

When it was discovered, Siemens offered to “legalize” the infringement for around $80,000. Inzign declined, and the case went to court. The court found in favor of Siemens. Though it did not find Inzign directly liable for copyright infringement since the employee was acting on their own volition, they did find them liable for vicarious infringement due to a lack of strong anti-piracy policies. Siemens had sought over $400,000 in damages, but the court awarded only $30,000, saying that Siemens’ estimates were far too high.

3: Siemens Sues 268 John Does in Texas Federal Court

Finally today, Steve Vondran at Vondran Legal reports that Siemens has filed a lawsuit in a Texas district court accusing some 268 “John Does” over alleged infringement of the company’s NX software.

The lawsuit doesn’t list the names of individuals or companies that are accused to have infringed the software. Instead, it lists them by their IP address The lawsuit is filed in hopes that the court will allow discovery on those IP addresses, so they can determine who is the owners of them.

In addition to the request for discovery, they are also seeking an injunction and damages from each of the defendants.

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