A significant blow - response to online piracy was the recent decision of the Single-Member Court of Appeal for Criminal Cases of Athens, which imposed heavy penalties in the first instance on the owner and the administrator (6 years and €20,000 and 3 years and €8,000 respectively) who maintained four pirate websites (THEGREEKZ.COM, YOUGREEKS.COM, TEAMOFGREEKZ.COM & THEGT.NET) through which they made available a huge number of films, music and other intellectual property works.
The first two websites were link sites and the other two were torrent sites, and their total number of users during their operation exceeded 400,000.
Following the investigation by the Cybercrime Prosecution Service in 2011 and the arrest of the ringleaders, the 3 websites were permanently closed, while the THEGREEKZ.COM website now operates as a forum with legal content, having since removed all illegal links.
The Single-Member Court of Appeal for Criminal Cases of Athens, after a months-long and thorough hearing process, vindicated the Collective Protection Organizations and condemned the illegal reproduction and distribution of audiovisual content, via the internet, using torrent and link methods.
This decision comes in addition to a series of convictions that have been issued recently, including one final one, recognizing the independent criminal liability of individuals who have the role of co-administrator (moderator) on such websites, and constitutes a milestone in the effort to protect intellectual property, sending a clear and resounding message to those who maintain and participate in illegal similar sites, as well as to those who seek financial gain through the illegal exploitation of content protected by copyright and related rights provisions.
Source: zougla.gr
