Add this to the “Reasons Why You Don’t Mess With Jack Bauer” category.

Friday, the FBI filed a criminal complaint against a Jorge Romero, who allegedly uploaded the first four episodes of ‘24′ to LiveDigital.com eight days before the show aired.  If convicted, he could serve a three year sentence.

Hollywood Reporter writes:

The action represents a renewed aggressiveness to crack down on Internet bootleggers, particularly in the television industry, which has not been as vocal about anti-piracy activities as the music and movie businesses.

Romero is not suspected of stealing the “24″ episodes from Fox; that individual is still at large, and neither Fox nor federal investigators has given up on trying to find the culprit.

That’s a pretty substantial penalty for simply distributing something that you obtained, albeit illegally, to another source.  While I agree that piracy is something that is potentially very damaging to the entertainment industry, doesn’t this seem to be a bit excessive?