First Prosecution In File Sharing ID Theft

This AP news story reports on the case of Gregory Kopiloff. According to the Justice Department this is the first prosecution against someone accused of using file-sharing to commit identity theft. Kopiloff used file sharing programs to gain access to the personal information of more than 50 people. He then used that information to fraudulently buy and resell more than $73,000 in merchandise.

The Prevalence of Identity Theft

The Bureau of Justice Statistics recently published a report on identity theft. According to the report, in 2005, 6.4 million households (5.5% of all households in the US) discovered that at least one member experienced one or more types of identity theft. Of this group, unauthorized use of an existing credit card was the the most prevalent type of identity theft (about 3 million households). Given that the data in the report is from 2005, the statistics today would likely be significantly larger.

Fair Use For User Generated Content

With the growth of user generated content (UGC) services like Youtube.com, the question of what is considered fair use is only now beginning to be defined. This article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation provides a framework for applying fair use in the UCG context. Hats off to beSpacific for this catch.