The first person on trial for illegally pirating movies onto the internet using BitTorrent technology was jailed for three months after losing his appeal Friday.

Chan Nai-ming, 39, was found guilty of distributing three Hollywood films using the peer-to-peer file-sharing program in 2005. Chan served 24 days of his three-month sentence before he was freed pending appeal. However, five appeal court judges unanimously dismissed his appeal. The three movies Chan was convicted of pirating were Dare-Devil, Miss Congeniality and Red Planet.

The court ruled that Chan had broken copyright laws by distributing movies on the internet, using a Bittorrent client. Chan had argued that he had just put the movies onto the internet, and the distribution was done by the people who downloaded them.

"He plainly succeeded in distributing copies of the films in question," the five-member Court of Final Appeal said in its judgment. "The appeal must accordingly be dismissed."

The ruling will generate a strong deterrent effect on Internet piracy activities," said Tam Yiu-keung, assistant customs and excise commissioner.

The Hong Kong government welcomed the judgment, saying it clarified the law regarding internet piracy. "This judgment has confirmed that it commits a crime and violates copyright laws for the act of using BT software to upload and distribute," said Tam in a written statement.