Doing Time: 24 Thief Faces Three Years in Prison

Chicagoan Jorge Romero could face up to three years in prison — and not the security-lax Fox River — for posting pirated episodes of 24 to LiveDigital.com, eight days before their broadcast bow. Back in January, Fox served LiveDigital (and YouTube, which is not named in the FBI's complaint) with a subpoena demanding the identification of the user who had posted yet-to-air episodes of 24 and The Simpsons; both sites complied with the request. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Twentieth Century Fox says, "We are grateful to the FBI and U.S. Attorney's offices in Los Angeles for aggressively pursuing this matter. Video-hosting sites such as LiveDigital and YouTube are not copyright-free zones, and indvidudals... who post episodes of television shows, particularly before they are even broadcast for the first time, will face harsh civil and criminal sanctions." Then again, maybe you'll get to shower alongside Paris. — MWM