First Conviction for Illegally Distributing Android Apps

April 16, 2014/Frederick Scholl/Android Apps, Convicted, Copyright

Reuters reports today the guilty plea and plea agreement of Kody Peterson, charged with illegally distributing Android apps. The conviction was the first copyright theft case involving Android apps. The case was tried in US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The original charges are here.

According to the US Attorney, the defendant obtained or created Android apps with disabled access controls. He then distributed them on his own website, www.snappzmarket.com. The retail value of the apps was over $1.7 million. This case was broken by an FBI agent working undercover and purchasing the apps online.

The good news is that this scam was broken. The bad news is that it is the first. How many others are still operating?

Posted in Enterprise Cyber Risk Management
Tags: Android Apps, Convicted, Copyright

Frederick Scholl

Frederick Scholl is an accomplished Global Senior Information Security Risk Manager. Dr. Scholl earned a BS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. In 1991, Fred founded Monarch Information Networks, LLC to enable forward-thinking organizations to protect their information. Previously, he co-founded Codenoll Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: CODN). He chaired the IEEE committee that wrote the first standard for Ethernet communication over fiber optic links, now used world-wide.