It is well known that Android app hacking is very simple and any APK distributed on the internet can be installed by anyone. No such conviction had been made until then, and it’s likely that a first-time owner of pirated Android apps will go to jail.
The 27-year-old main character, Scott Walton, said he installed pirated apps on the SnappzMarket alternative market from May 2011 to August 2012. According to the US Department of Justiceall hacked apps represent about $1.7 million.
Let’s go back to 2012 this year, First action of American justice against alternative markets Three of these markets made this year have been banned and discontinued by the FBI: SnappzMarket, Appbucket, and Applanet. A series of arrests followed, and only today one of them, Scott Walton, risks being the first to go to jail for this type of practice.
Scott isn’t the only one who finds himself on the dock, though 22-year-old Kody Jon Peterson pleaded guilty for joining the case, but the stakes for him are lower than for his teammate. However, he did not come out of the forest, and only the future will tell us what will happen to him.
This condemnation leads us to believe that the hitherto lax or even nonexistent law on app piracy could now become stricter and lead to further arrests or convictions. Hacking is getting dangerous, people who like this app beware !
Given the nature of this Open Source based ecosystem, it would still be impossible for the authorities to prevent Android piracy. Unless Google changes its route and provides the authorities with tools to counter this intense piracy.
