Arrested by the Cybercrime Division, for violation of copyright law
The arrestee was a website administrator, through which audiovisual works such as movies, TV series and music were distributed without paying the corresponding copyright fees
From the Cybercrime Directorate, a domestic website administrator was arrested yesterday (16.06.2014) in the morning, against whom a case file was opened for ’ continued computer fraud and violation of the intellectual property legislation.
The Cybercrime Directorate conducted an investigation of this case, as part of its ongoing operation aimed at combating the phenomenon of intellectual property rights piracy on the internet.
Specifically, from the electronic investigation that was carried out, a digital website was identified through which the distribution of musical creations and audiovisual works was taking place without the related intellectual property rights being paid. This was followed by a digital investigation, through which the website administrator and his place of residence were identified.
From the lawful investigation, in the presence of a judicial officer, who conducted a police raid at the perpetrator's home in the Piraeus area, it was found that he has the management rights of the website and was arrested within the framework of the immediate procedure.
During the investigation, an internal computer hard drive (1) was found and seized, which will be sent for examination to the Forensic Laboratories Directorate of the Hellenic Police.
Furthermore, the digital investigation revealed that the perpetrator was managing thousands of online users, who had access to hundreds of thousands of audiovisual files (music, films, etc.), which he possessed illegally, without the required permission of the legal holders of the relevant intellectual property rights, as well as related rights of member companies of the Society for the Protection of Audiovisual Works.
Through this activity, the website administrator was gaining significant financial benefits, amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros, for which further investigation is being conducted at a financial and tax level.
The arrested person, with the case file filed against him, was taken to the Piraeus First Instance Prosecutor.
It should be noted that the Cybercrime Division, in recent times, has identified a multitude of websites through which millions of music tracks and movies are distributed daily. It is estimated that over 2,500,000 users were registered on the sites, with tax evasion in these cases approaching €78,000,000.
