Sony Wins $6 Million Award Against PlayStation Infringer
Filipiak signed a consent judgment June 16, 2004, under which he agreed to an injunction and to pay $50,000 damages to Sony. Sony agreed not to execute the judgment so long as Filipiak complied with the injunction.
The evidence showed that on the same day he signed the judgment, Filipiak nonetheless continued sales activities. He responded to customer inquiries about the HDLoader by telling them that he had removed it from his Web site because he was hiding it and no longer selling it publicly, but he continued to sell the device, the court's opinion says.
Sony withdrew its consent from the stipulated consent judgment. Sony and Filipiak entered into another consent judgment that included a provision prohibiting Filipiak from destroying or deleting any business documents and requiring him to turn over all documents to Sony.
Filipiak delivered his hard drive to Sony, but a computer forensics expert determined that thousands of files had been deleted in the three-day period between the date Filipiak signed the agreement and the time he produced the hard drive, according to the opinion.
Judge Spero said Filipiak intentionally violated the terms of the agreement and his discovery obligations.
The available evidence indicated that Filipiak sold 7,039 circumvention devices between 2002 and June 12, 2004, and another 155 devices between June 12 and 14 of that year.
Sony asked for an award of statutory damages of $800 per device for those sold before June 12, 2004, and $2,500 per device sold after that date. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act permits a range of $200 to $2,500 per act of circumvention.
