US citizen expelled out of China for selling pirated DVDs

US citizen Randolph Hobson Guthrie III has been expelled from China for selling pirated DVDs Thursday and handed over to the US police, according to Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

Guthrie, born on Jan. 19, 1967, and his accomplice, Cody Abram Thrush, were arrested by the Chinese police in July last year on charges of selling pirated DVDs. The police confiscated over 210,000 pirated DVDs on the spot.

The two were sentenced to two and a half years and one year in prison respectively by the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, and both would be expelled from China after serving their sentences.

The court also found the two Americans guilty of selling some 130,000 pirated DVD copies to foreign countries, such as the United States and Britain, through the Internet between Nov. 3, 2003 and July 1, 2004, reaping illegal profits worth some 970,000 yuan (117,000 US dollars).

The two ran a commercial website at www.threedollardvd.com and sold the pirated DVDs at a price of three dollars per copy, according to the court verdict.

The court also ruled that the two Americans would pay a fine of 500,000 yuan (about 60,500 US dollars) and 10,000 yuan (some 1,200 dollars), respectively.

Abram was driven out of China on July 1.

The case suggested piracy is a global problem without national boundaries, a spokesman for the ministry told Xinhua.

"The Chinese police will go on increasing cooperation with other countries, including the United States, to fight international crimes under the principle of understanding, trust and equality," the spokesman said.

Source: Xinhua