About 3 years ago I met and started dating a really cool guy by the name of Rob Rothberg. He was extremely good looking, super intelligent, creative (a drummer, I have always loved musicians!!) and warm hearted. The best part was that all of this came with a guy who also had a great career and a wonderful sense of adventure! We dated for a few months and started to fall for each other. The company Rob worked for began laying people off, Rob was their next victim. Not to worry though. The economy was doing fairly well, and Rob had high hopes of finding another great job. We decided we would both start looking for work-- in California. We lived in Massachusetts and had both always thought about moving to the west coast. On a crisp morning, the third of February, 2000, we were laying in bed at his apartment waiting for the alarm to go off alerting us that it was time for us to get up and head to the airport. Destination: Irvine, California! Rob had a job interview at Toshiba the next morning. We were very excited! The next thing we know the doorbell rings. Who the hell could be at the door at 7:30 in the morning? Rob went down to answer the door. It was the FBI. They arrested Rob and took him away in handcuffs! I was bewildered! Who is this guy and what have I got myself into? I sat on his couch for the next 6 hours watching and listening as agents in black suits with walkie talkies (just like in the movies!) tore apart his apartment looking for "evidence". One of the agents asked me questions about Rob and warned me not to marry him, as he was “going away for a long time, and will never work in the technology industry again”. As I watched them cheer over a discovery of a hat with the word “Intel” embroidered on the front, I decided I would not make any decisions about this until I was able to talk to Rob about it.

Due to changes in laws, Rob was arrested and being charged federally for a crime that (often compared to Napster) was, until recently, treated as a civil offence. The Department of Justice wanted to use Rob to make an example. We were looking at jail time.

Rob had been involved with a computer piracy group (see ARTICLES). To make a really long story short, Rob and I did not move to California. He did get a new job, but was laid off after last winter. The proceedings of this case were dragged out for more than two years. In that time, Rob and I got engaged and planned our wedding not knowing what would happen in the future. We got married on August 17, 2002. Rob self -surrendered to prison on September 1, 2002 --just two weeks after our wedding. (so much for a honeymoon in Hawaii!) His sentence is 18 months with possible 3 months off for good behavior. Although this has been, and will continue to be, a very long, hard road, I am happy to be here. Rob is definitely worth waiting for. With the help of family, friends, and sympathetic supporters, I can only hope that this time will pass quickly and that we will be able to resume some sense of normalcy and security again when this is over.

I know there are a lot of people out there who are going through similar situations. If I can answer any questions or offer any advice to you, please feel free to contact me through Rob’s email address or our PO box.

Sincerely,
Shannon Rothberg