Andre Yoskowitz
21 Sep 2013 19:44
Spain, infamous for being a hotbed of piracy, has increased the jail time admins of piracy sites can face for their crimes.
The country, facing trade sanctions from the U.S. and strong criticism from Hollywood, appears to be at least trying to move away from its title as one of the kings of piracy.
As part of the new law, site owners who are making money "from linking to copyrighted material provided illegally by third parties, whether it be 'direct or indirect profit,'" can face up to six years of jail time along with fines.
The law goes into effect early next year.
Until this new law, Spanish authorities could only prosecute uploaders and sharers of the illegal content. Now, downloaders and other users will not face any punishment and P2P platforms and search engines are excluded, as well.