BALTIMORE, MD—A federal grand jury
returned a superseding indictment today charging Naveed Sheikh, age 30, of
Baltimore, with conspiring to and illegally reproducing and distributing over
1000 copyrighted commercial software programs, with a total value of over $4
million.
The superseding indictment was announced
by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and
Special Agent in Charge William Winter of of U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Special Agent in
Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Acting
Postal Inspector in Charge Peter R. Rendina of the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service—Washington Division.
According to the four count superseding
indictment, from February 2004 to June 2008, Sheikh conspired to infringe
copyrights by reproducing and distributing over 1000 copyrighted commercial
software programs worth $4 million. The indictment alleges that Sheikh
recruited and compensated co-conspirators, directed the actions of other
co-conspirators, obtained infringing copies of software that were used for
distribution, and planned and organized the activities of the conspiracy.
Sheikh allegedly advertised through his Internet website and sold infringing
copyrighted commercial software at prices well below the suggested retail
prices of legitimate, authorized copies of the software. According to the
indictment, Sheikh advised purchasers that the programs offered for sale were
not legal because they were copies of original software programs or “cracked”
versions and could not be registered with the legitimate companies that
developed the software programs and held copyrights covering the software. Some
of the copyrighted works included Microsoft Office, Microsoft Money 2006 Small
Business, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects Pro 7.0,
Veritas NetBackUp Pro 5.1, Solid Works Office 2000 Premium, Quicken Premier
Home and Business 2006 and Apple iLife 2006.
The indictment alleges that Sheikh
advised purchasers that software programs could be mailed to purchasers on
compact discs and downloaded from the Internet. Sheikh caused the creation of
DVD-Rs and CD-Rs with copyright infringing software programs and crack codes.
Crack codes allow an individual to modify software to remove or disable
security protections. Sheikh allegedly requested that purchasers send money
orders for infringing software to a P.O. box he maintained in Towson, Maryland.
Sheikh also permitted customers to pay for infringing software through credit
card charges and electronic fund transfers. Sheikh paid a company that hosted
Internet domains to register multiple Internet domains, including ezencode.com,
lazer-toners.com, and coark.net. Sheikh hosted the website, www.ezencode.com,
on computers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Bel Air, Maryland. Sheikh used
computers at his residence in Bel Air, Maryland, and other computers, to
contact and control his computer located in Scranton.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of $4
million as the proceeds of the scheme.
Sheikh faces a maximum sentence of five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy and for each of three
counts of copyright infringement. Sheikh is detained. No court appearance has
been scheduled.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt.
An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein
praised HSI Baltimore, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their
work in the investigation and thanked the Business Software Alliance (BSA) for
its assistance. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Harry
M. Gruber, who is prosecuting the case.
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