Andre Yoskowitz
8 Aug 2010 14:54
The IFPI has claimed the largest ever piracy raid in Bulgaria this week, shutting down four sites that illegally distribute music, movies, video games and software.
The Bulgarian Police's Cyber Crime Unit, in conjunction with the IFPI, have shut down nanoset.net, rapidadd.com, 4storing.com and afasta.com.
Bulgarian Association of Music Producers (BAMP) claimed the sites were run by organized crime members and filed the original complaints against each of the sites.
Nanoset was a P2P service but the other three were file-hosting and storing sites, each of which also offered streaming capabilities of unauthorized movies, many of which were still in theaters or had yet to hit theaters in the nation.
Police added that they believe users paid €2.5 million to access the content, and the sites also raised money through advertising.
Site operators were arrested and computer systems were seized, noted the authorities. Bulgarian ISPs hosting the websites were also discovered to have 120 terabytes of unauthorized content.
Bulgaria is known to have one of the highest piracy rates in the world, at about 99.5 percent, with three of the country's top five most visited domestic sites being warez sites.