Making good on Justice Department pronouncements to crack down on intellectual property theft, the DOJ secured historic convictions against two men charged in January 2014 with operating a popular Android piracy website called Appbucket.net.  According to federal prosecutors, the defendants engaged in a scheme to illegally distribute more than one million copies of copyrighted mobile apps through the Appbucket online marketplace without permission from the apps’ developers.  These apps had a total retail value of more than $700,000. Both men pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.  They face up to five years in prison and will be sentenced this summer. The case marks the first convictions secured by the DOJ against those who illegally distribute counterfeit mobile apps, said acting Assistant Attorney General David O’Neil in the DOJ’s press release.  O’Neil added that the convictions underscore the DOJ’s determination to “prosecute those who undermine the innovations of others in new technologies.”…
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