PRESS RELEASE
A case of violation of intellectual property legislation against a publishing house was investigated by the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate
A case was filed against a 48-year-old Greek national and unknown perpetrators, who, according to a complaint, were distributing books from a publishing house online without the required license
The Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate investigated a case of violation of intellectual property legislation and filed a regular criminal case against a 48-year-old Greek national and other unknown perpetrators.
In particular, a lawsuit was filed by a legal representative of a publishing house against owners/administrators of social networking website groups, as well as against other websites. According to the complaint, the administrators of the said websites either offered for sale or reading to internet users, online books of the plaintiff company, or referred users to illegal internet links (urls), through which they were provided with this opportunity, without the required permission of the legal beneficiaries of the intellectual property rights.
The Athens First Instance Prosecutor's Office was informed of the above and a relevant Prosecutor's order followed to conduct a preliminary examination and identify the perpetrators.
The Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate conducted an extensive and thorough digital investigation and analysis of the digital data and evidence of the case. Correspondence was conducted with the relevant internet service providers and the involvement of the 48-year-old in the case emerged.
The legal investigation, in the presence of a prosecutor, carried out by a team of police officers at the perpetrator's home in Corfu, resulted in his identification as the administrator of a specific website.
During the investigation, six (6) external computer hard drives were found and seized, which will be sent to the Criminal Investigations Directorate for laboratory tests.
Furthermore, the digital investigation of the Cybercrime Prosecution Directorate revealed the involvement of companies based abroad, and within the framework of international police cooperation (Interpol), the identity of the other perpetrators is being investigated.
The preliminary investigation is in full swing, while after its completion the formed case file will be submitted to the competent prosecution authority.
