How a Young Developer Made 7 Million Yuan Selling Illegal Video‑Piracy Software

China’s CCTV program “Today’s Law” reported a case where a post‑90s programmer earned more than 7 million yuan within a year by developing and selling illegal video‑transfer software, and was later sentenced.

A major short‑video platform reported that the software allowed users to bypass its review mechanisms, directly stealing others’ works for reposting.

Police in Zhejiang discovered an illegal crime chain: upstream developers created the software by modifying short‑video platform code to evade regulation.

Core points of the case:

The software performed video mirroring, watermark removal, draft replacement, camera replacement and other functions to bypass originality checks, enabling reposting on platforms such as Kuaishou, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and Xigua Video.

Users used the tool to quickly gain followers and monetize by reposting high‑quality videos.

Developer Zhou, born in 1996, quit his job to focus on independent development.

After release, Zhou attracted customers via overseas articles, recruited sales agents, and charged 90 yuan per quarter.

From May 2022 to March 2023, Zhou earned over 7 million yuan, with sales commissions exceeding 2 million yuan.

On 16 November 2023, sales agent Chen was sentenced to three years with a two‑month probation for providing illegal intrusion tools, while Zhou received a three‑year sentence with a five‑year probation.

The software’s capabilities include video mirroring, watermark removal, draft replacement, and camera replacement to evade originality verification, allowing reposting on major platforms.

References:

https://v2ex.com/t/1037345

https://tv.cctv.com/2024/04/27/VIDEDN7F4BCUq7qJlJYX98sv240427.shtml