The Justice Department issued a press release today about the copyright infrindgement case that involved Star Wars:Episode III. Here's a clip of the ground breaking case. If you want the full story, follow this link:

Scott R. McCausland, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and one count of criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. His guilty plea stems from his involvement in the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) network previously known as Elite Torrents. The plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Sean J. McLaughlin for the Western District of Pennsylvania. McCausland, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec.12, 2006, faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

"This groundbreaking case demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who use new technologies to undermine the copyright laws," said U.S. Attorney Buchanan. "It also serves as an example to those who believe that there is anonymity in cyberspace."

The Elite Torrents P2P network offered a virtually unlimited content selection, including illegal copies of copyrighted works before their availability in retail stores or movie theatres. For example, the defendant supplied the network with the final entry in the Star Wars series, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," more than six hours before it was first shown in theatres. In the next 24 hours, it was downloaded from the Elite Torrents network more than 10,000 times.