What's the penalty for the man who downloaded 100TB of internet piracy?

In recent years, people are realizing that the internet is no man's land. With that, the laws against piracy have become more severe. While in some countries downloading content illegally can lead to a fine, in others it can lead to imprisonment.

Read more: Is it forbidden to consume pirated products on the internet?

However, a curious case happened to a user who downloaded a huge amount of content. When we say “huge”, it is not an exaggeration. A 28-year-old man, whose name has not been revealed, did the download roughly 100 TB – not GIGAbytes, TERAbytes – of content. Of these, he shared (also illegally of course) about 20TB.

It is estimated that he downloaded and shared around 3,000 copyrighted files in less than a year. All this using so-called torrents.

What's the penalty for the man who downloaded 100TB of internet piracy?

This man's sentence was not as severe as one might imagine. Incredibly, he was sentenced to 60 days of probation and 80 hours of community service, in addition to having his computer confiscated. He must still pay 5,000 Danish kroner (approximately R$ 3,250) to Rights Alliance for copyright infringement.

It was a relatively lenient sentence given the circumstances and evidence against him.

Generally, investigations against piracy on the internet are intended to find those responsible for the sites that share the content, not the user. The 100TB man was found because authorities noticed his activity was above normal.

Why a light penalty?

Because the aim of the Danish prosecution was not to punish severely. They used the man as an example to show the public that the authorities are keeping an eye on online activity. As well as those who consume illegal content on the internet can also be punished.

Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.