A Woodbury, Conn., man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for operating Web sites where users could download unauthorized copies of movies, music and software titles, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

David M. Fish, 26, was sentenced Monday on criminal copyright infringement and circumvention charges in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, the Department of Justice announced late Tuesday. Prosecutors accused Fish of operating so-called warez sites offering downloads of thousands of products protected by copyright. In addition to a 30-month prison term, Judge Ronald Whyte sentenced Fish to three years of probation following his prison term and the forfeiture of computer and other equipment used in the copyright offenses.

Fish pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2006, to five counts, including four counts in the Northern District of California case for conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement; distribution of technology primarily designed to circumvent encryption technology protecting a right of a copyright owner and aiding and abetting; circumventing a technological measure that protects a copyright work and aiding and abetting; copyright infringement by electronic means and aiding and abetting. On the same day, Fish also pleaded guilty to one count of criminal infringement of a copyright on charges from the Southern District of Iowa, the Department of Justice said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.