Threat Management

Android app piracy group member pleads guilty

A lead member of an online piracy group has pleaded guilty for his role in a mobile app piracy ruse that distributed more than one million unofficial copies of Android apps.

Scott Walton of Cleveland, Ohio, plead guilty on Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, according to a release by the Justice Department.

As a member of the SnappzMarket Group, Walton and other members illegally reproduced and distributed more than one million copies of copyrighted Android mobile device apps via the SnappzMarket alternative online market. The retail value of the apps is over $1.7 million.

Walton and two other co-conspirators were arrested in July. Other members of the SnappzMarket Group have also plead guilty.

Walton will be scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

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