Two of Bulgaria’s largest torrent sites have been raided by the country’s organized crime unit. The sites, which served in excess of three quarters of a million members, had been established for several years. Three locations were raided and two site admins, one just 17-years-old, were arrested.
According to Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry, the country’s organized crime unit has dramatically raided a piracy site. Following a music industry tip-off, an “American movie” style raid ensued with unwitting employees at the site location ordered to lie on the floor while the anti-mafia unit – who didn’t even have a search warrant – conducted what appears to a Keystone Kops inspired operation.
Following high level talks with the IFPI and very public declarations on national TV, it recently became clear that Bulgarian authorities would start taking down torrent sites and other file-sharing services. This week the Ministry of Affairs has been busy targeting what it describes as a “criminal network” of file-hosting services which allegedly generated more than $3 million.
Yesterday we reported on the plight of RARBG, a large tracker forced to close by anti-piracy outfit, BREIN. Now it appears that this is just the tip of the iceberg. A whole raft of trackers are being forced to close or relocate following police action, including ArenaBG and several other large sites.
TorrentValley, one of the larger BitTorrent sites with millions of visitors each month, has been shut down by Bulgarian authorities. The site’s servers were seized by a Cyber Crime Unit, which acted based upon evidence provided by the Bulgarian music industry.
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