Game Pirate Sent To Jail For Four Years

Published on February 19, 2004 By Austin Gage In PC Gaming

Sean Michael Breen was sentenced a 50-month jail term in California for selling cracked console and PC software totaling nearly $500,000.

Breen was a member of Razor1911, a notorious group of game hackers. Together, these guys cracked games such as Quake and Warcraft III, and sold them in advance of their release dates. They aquired the games by posing as reviewers from a fictional gaming magazine, and having them delivered to a "derelict storefront address in Oakland". They would then sell the pirated games through pirated websites. Breen and 40 other members of Razor1911 were arrested for this practice.

Breen's sentence begins March 26th, and will last until 2009, when he'll have to serve another three years of probation.

Comments

JeremyG

on Feb 19, 2004

Wow....Razor1911 has been around for a long time. But i didnt know they SOLD games, i thought they were just the cracking types.

messybuu

on Feb 19, 2004

I hope they enjoy prison. I wish they would make a reality TV show based on these guys' life in there. I'd watch it!

Dan Kaschel

on Feb 20, 2004

That's too bad. I never liked the idea of spending $50 on a game. I'll bet they sold it cheaper.

~Dan

messybuu

on Feb 20, 2004

That's too bad. I never liked the idea of spending $50 on a game. I'll bet they sold it cheaper.

Why even pay for it? Ever hear of the five finger discount?

Draginol

on Feb 20, 2004

I don't know which is worse, paying thieves to steal for you or stealing it yourself.

Tech Cat

on Feb 20, 2004

If you don't want to pay $50 for a game, then wait until it gets to the bargain bin. You can get some pretty good games that are a couple of years old from anywhere games are sold for $20 to $30. There is also the option of buying used when it comes to console games. I don't know why Gamestop won't sell used PC games.

greywar (Anonymous User)

on Feb 20, 2004

People paid Razor1911 for games? were they too lazy to just get them from Mirc or more recently off a Torrent site?

messybuu

on Feb 20, 2004

It reminds me of those people I see on Napster, that pay for the premium service on Napster so they could download all the music they want, and then crack it so that they could listen to it even after the service expires. One wonders why they don't take the logical approach of a pirate and simply use Kazaa or something.
As for console games, they get cheap fast (well some of them). Hell, at FuncoLand, the Jet Li one is only $40, and Buffy 2 was $30 like a few weeks after it came out.

Lunaticus Minimus

on Feb 20, 2004

Paying theives to steal for you can go both ways. On one hand it shows udder (huhuh I said udder) disdain to belittle yourself to actually stealing it..(though it is theft)
But then again, you're paying someone else..so in a way, it just says you're not good enough to do it yourself. Go Fig!

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