Los Angeles D. A. Obtains First Guilty Plea Under State’s Online Downloading Theft Law

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has scored its first guilty plea in an Internet “poaching” case. Jed Kobles pled guilty to “conspiracy to commit grand theft in the first criminal Internet file-sharing case brought in California” according to L. A. prosecutors. Kobles apparently allowed users of his file sharing service, called UTB Smokinghouse, to download copyrighted material–movies such as Terminator 3 and A Beautiful Mind, tv shows such as The Simpsons, video games, and music. Read the press release here.

Meanwhile, the recording industry continues to pursue file-swappers. Read more here.