Cardiff Crown Court has been told that a man who sold counterfeit music CDs on eBay was not in it for the money.
Clive Kinsey, age 47, of Hirwaun, had six eBay IDs, from which he sold £4 compilation disks made up from 10,000 songs he had downloaded. Trading Standards officers raided his home in December 2005 after making sample purchases from him on the Internet: they found 292 pirate CDs ready for posting.
Kinsey’s lawyer said that “he is just a lover of music who actually enjoyed what he was doing. … But, perhaps, ego took over and he thought he was part of the music industry.” He was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year, and was ordered to carry out 120 hours of community service, and to hand over £13,600 estimated takings from his illegal activities.