It’s the sort of scenario that sounds so goofy you’d think it was farted out during an episode of CSI: Cyber for sweeps. A hacker that’s been busted for pirating software has been presented with an opportunity to avoid a legal smackdown in exchange for making an anti-piracy video that needs to hit 200,000 views.
Jakub, a 30-year-old Czech man that was found guilty of pirating Windows and other software, was originally teed up to pay 5.7 million koruna (about $223,000 U.S.) in damages and take on a three-year suspended sentence. Luckily for Jakub’s bank account, an out-of-court settlement was reached with the firms seeking damages. The collection of companies suing Jakub, which includes Microsoft, Twentieth Century Fox and HBO, sorted out a deal where the pirate would only pay a small fine if he appeared in an anti-piracy video that cracked the 200K barrier within two months.
The arrangement has brought the agreeably slick “The Story of My Piracy” into the world. In a brisk two minutes, Jakub explains the unpleasant legal situation he’s wound up in and asks for the public’s help in getting him to 200,000 views. It’s actually a pretty interesting watch because the clip’s light on remorse for piracy and more of a “please stop this punishment from happening” kind of thing.
Was the video successful? You’re darn tootin’ it was. Jakub’s anti-piracy PSA has racked up over 840,000 views since arriving online last week. As you might imagine, reaction from commenters on YouTube has been mixed at best. The bulk of comments tend to be pro-Jakub, but also pro-piracy at the same time. As one commenter noted: “Keep on pirating mate, you got enough views for a 2nd punishment xD.”
(via Quartz)