'Star Wars' Pirate Cops a Plea
Marc Hoaglin of Huntington Beach, Calif. pled guilty yesterday to one count of uploading a work being prepared for commercial distribution. Hoaglin was nabbed for uploading a stolen copy of 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' to the Internet the day before its theatrical release.
Despite dire warnings being issued by movie studios against this sort of piracy, Hoaglin was willing to risk years in a U.S. prison for the chance to brag to his fellow geeks at POTUK.com (Pirates of the U.K.), a movie-swapping website.
Mission accomplished, Marc! TMZ suspects you will be the only member of the A/V Club with a felony conviction and a room at the Greybar Hotel, where "illegal uploading" is just another tortured metaphor.