Intellectual Property. Jiri Klimecek was a member of a group that overrode copyright protection in movies, video games, and software and then made them available for download online. Klimecek bought and installed hardware and software to set up a computer server and paid half of the monthly service charges to connect the server to the Internet. He knew that users around the world could access the server to upload and download copyrighted works. He obtained access to Czech movies and music to make them available. Klimecek was indicted in a federal district court for copyright infringement.

He claimed that he did not understand the full scope of the operation. Did Klimecek commit a crime? If so, was he a

“minor participant” entitled to a reduced sentence? Explain.

[United States v. Klimecek, __ F.3d __ (7th Cir. 2009)]