Northwood Man Found Guilty Of Copyright Violation Related To Video Games

A jury returned a guilty verdict against Jeffrey J. Reichert, age 27, of Northwood, Ohio, in connection with a oneicount indictment that charged him with violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

The indictment charged that the defendant knowingly manufactured, imported, offered to the public, or otherwise trafficked in technology, products, services, devices, components or parts thereof, which were primarily designed to circumvent technological measures designed to effectively control access to a work copyrighted under Title 17 of the United States Code, for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain. Specifically, the defendant was charged with trafficking in modification chips (also known as “Mod Chips”) which are primarily designed to circumvent the technological measures designed into video game consoles (such as the Nintendo Wii) to prevent access to copyrighted works.

The defendant will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent on March 26, 2013, after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert W. Kern and Chelsea Rice of the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).