OKLAHOMA CITY – A former Oklahoma State University student has been accused of being part of a group of computer hackers who use the Internet to copy, modify and distribute copyrighted material.

Joseph Ryan Hershberger, 28, has been indicted on federal conspiracy and copyright infringement charges as part of the Justice Department’s focus on enforcing intellectual property rights.

Hershberger, of Austin, Texas, is accused of downloading more than $40,000 worth of pirated software between 2000 and 2004 while a student at OSU, the indictment states.

Hershberger earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering at OSU in 2005 and currently works as a computer programmer. He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in U.S. District Court on Monday.

Prosecutors allege that Hershberger is a member of the “warez scene,” an organized group of people who since the early 1990s have worked together to “crack” copyright protection of movies, games, music and software and distribute them to others, according to the Justice Department.

Software piracy worldwide cost companies $40 billion in 2006, according to the Business Software Alliance.

Authorities have estimated that fewer than a dozen of the largest “warez” groups are responsible for the majority of pirated software, games and movies available online.

Computer users who go by screen names like “hackrat” and “doodad” are the backbone of such groups, which are highly structured even though their members typically only interact via the Internet, according to the Justice Department.

Hershberger and other unindicted co-conspirators allegedly attached a computer server to OSU’s network to allow other users of “The Loading Zone” to store and distribute illegally duplicated movies, games, music and computer software, according to an indictment returned on Aug. 7.

Florida resident Gary David Leavens, also known as “gair,” was also indicted in the case. He allegedly shipped the server to Hershberger so it could be installed on the university’s computer network, according to court papers.

Hershberger sent the server back to Leavens sometime in 2002 so it could be repaired, the indictment alleges. Hershberger and Leavens obtained pirated copies of copyrighted work for connecting the server to OSU’s network, the indictment states.

Federal prosecutors charged 350 people with intellectual property offenses in fiscal year 2005, the last year for which statistics are available – almost twice as many as the previous year, the Justice Department said.