Nathan Peterson, 27, pleaded guilty in the District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2005 to two charges of criminal copyright infringement, admitting that he had sold pirated software from Microsoft , Adobe, and Symantec through his Web site, iBackups.net.

Peterson had started selling the programs in 2003, and according to federal authorities, had made more than $5.4 million from the sales. The retail value of the software was close to $20 million, authorities noted.

In addition to serving his prison sentence and paying damages, Peterson has also been ordered to return goods purchased with the proceeds from the operation, including several homes, a boat, and six luxury cars.

Ahoy, Pirate

The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, is the longest ever handed down for software piracy.

Officials have called iBackups.net one of the largest software piracy sites based out of the United States, according to news reports.

Last month, the same judge sentenced a Florida man, Danny Ferrer, to six years in prison for selling pirated software. In that case, Ferrer also pleaded guilty to copyright charges and will be paying more than $4.1 million in restitution to software makers like Adobe, Autodesk, and Macromedia.

Much like Peterson, Ferrer used the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle, and the FBI seized a Lamborghini, two Cessna planes, and a helicopter, among other assets.

Dangerous Waters

Whether the sentence imposed on Peterson will be a deterrent to other software pirates would be difficult to gauge, said JupiterResearch analyst Joe Wilcox, but it could raise awareness among consumers in the U.S.

"The problem with piracy in this country is that people buy pirated software without realizing what they're doing," he said.

Part of the difficulty is that consumers are used to buying products, he added, such a books and CDs that can be shared with friends and family. "But if you buy Windows , it doesn't belong to you, it's Microsoft's," said Wilcox. "They're just letting you use it."

But the greater problem is that there are many ways consumers can be fooled, he added. Pricing that is far below the manufacturer's price can be a tip-off, but many people think they are getting a bargain, not a pirated program.

"Prison sentences like the one just handed down might not affect pirates, because there's so much money to be made and so little prosecution," Wilcox said. "But it could make consumers more aware. And if nobody's buying the stuff, pirates will be impacted by that."