Bulgaria busts man for illegally distributing films on more than 40 sites
A 44-year-old man from Sofia has been taken into custody by the anti-organised crime squad for illegally distributing films on more than 40 websites that he set up and administered, the Interior Ministry said on August 7.
The Interior Ministry listed the domain names the man was known to have used, some of them referring to well-known film franchises such as Star Wars and James Bond. The distribution of the films took place in violation of copyright law.
According to the ministry, the suspect posted the films online and on the basis of visitors and traffic received, earned money from Google. His earnings went up as he shared the films in different domains, about four to five times.
The statement said that after the required electronic evidence was collected, the anti-organised crime squad had the websites suspended.
The Interior Ministry said that most of the websites were hosted on the internet by one of the largest international cloud service providers in the United States.
This had led the suspect to believe that he was anonymous, but an international investigation by the Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and the Sofia Regional Prosecutor’s Office had exposed him, the statement said.