You know those adverts where they tell you that watching illegally pirated movies on the Internet is bad and wrong and you instantly go to hell if you do it? Well, Hollywood has started making examples of the perpetrators.

Marc Hoaglin from Los Angeles faces three years in prison for illegally uploading a copy of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith before it’s theatrical release, thereby letting people know what a disappointing film it was before they could pay a stack of cash to find out.

Marc Hoaglin has pleaded guilty to uploading a copy of Star Wars:
Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (DVDs) onto the Internet the night before
the film was released in cinemas worldwide. According to The Guardian,
he is only the second person in history to be convicted for such a
crime.

By uploading Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith onto the
Internet before it was commercially distributed, Marc Hoaglin violated
the US Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, which
makes uploading a movie before its DVD release a federal offence.

Hoaglin got a pre-release copy of the Star Wars
movie from someone he works with in May, which had been stolen a few
days earlier from a
post-production company that was putting finishing touches
on the film, according to prosecutors.

It’s not clear whether or not everyone involved in the stealing and
illegal uploading of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith all
thought that the bit where Darth Vader goes "Noooooooo!" at the end was a bit
flimsy and ridiculous. Hoaglin will be sentenced in March.

Here’s a massive list of Star Wars stuff you can pick up at eBay

Read more:

Empire Strikes Back At Star Wars Bootlegger – Guardian

[story by Stuart Heritage]