Pirate Punished

Freeloading good-for-nothings took one in the eye recently when the man responsible for posting pirate copies of The Hulk on the Internet pleaded guilty to felony copyright infringement before a judge in the US. Kerry Gonzalez, 25, found himself in front of the bench less than three weeks after he posted the film online, a clear warning that studios won't be taking any crap from those who seek to illicitly cut into their profits. The Hulk was leaked online two weeks prior to its US theatrical debut, a source of intense irritation to Universal who could only stand by as thousands of net-savvy film fans downloaded the unfinished print of the film. Tracked down by the FBI, Gonzalez did eventually turn himself in only to become the first person to face criminal charges for making a copyrighted Hollywood film available online. "Kerry certainly didn't contemplate the magnitude of the consequences of uploading the movie," said his lawyer. Faced with the possibility of up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, you can bet he's pretty aware of them now.