Ohio man is the first person to go to jail for pirating Android apps

By Williams Pelegrin Published November 6, 2014

ohio man android pirate jail snappzmarket — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It hasn’t been a fun week for those in the world of pirating thanks to the arrest of the third Pirate Bay co-founder. Well, now you can add a 28-year-old Ohio man who plead guilty to the charge of criminal copyright infringement, reports TorrentFreak.

The man in question, Scott Walton, confessed to having participated in SnappzMarket, an online marketplace that distributed more than one million pirated copies of copyrighted Android applications from May 2011 through August 2012. Walton’s arrest and subsequent charges were brought forth after 23-year-old Florida man Kody Jon Peterson also plead guilty for his role in the scheme.

“The apps had a total retail value of over $1.7 million and were distributed through the SnappzMarket alternative online store without permission from the victim copyright owners, who would otherwise sell copies of the apps on legitimate online markets for a fee,” according to a Department of Justice press release.

The FBI was able to obtain a seizure order to bring down the website. It was the first time the Bureau received such an order against a website domain involving mobile app marketplaces.

Topics

Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

Mobile

The Spotify Android app just got an odd design change

A close-up of the Spotify app icon.

There's a good chance you use Spotify for your music streaming and podcast listening. There's also a good chance you use the Spotify app on your Android phone. If so, you'll soon notice that the app looks a bit different than usual.

How so? The app icon no longer has its distinctive black background. Gasp.

Mobile

Your Google Photos app may soon get a big overhaul. Here’s what it looks like

The Google Photos app running on a Google Pixel 8 Pro.

Google Photos is set to get a long-overdue overhaul that will bring new and improved sharing and notification features to the app. With its automatic backups, easy sorting and search, and album sharing, Google Photos has always been one of the better photo apps, and now it's set to get a whole slew of AI features.

According to an APK teardown done by Android Authority and the leaker AssembleDebug, Google is now set to double down on improving sharing features. Google Photos will get a new social-focused sharing page in version 6.85.0.637477501 for Android devices.

Mobile

AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.