After anti-piracy investigators somehow managed to obtain a full copy of their site logs several years ago, a married couple behind the now defunct Interfilm BitTorrent tracker have finally been charged for their role in running the site. The Moscow pair face claims they cost movie companies a staggering $1.25 billion. Fines and possible jail sentences of up to six years await them.
In anticipation of the Academy Awards ceremony last week, Belarusian TV viewers were treated to some previous Oscar-awarded movies. One of the films that Belarus’ National State Television decided to air was last year’s best picture The Hurt Locker. However, the channel managers apparently didn’t go through all the proper licensing channels, electing to show a copy that had been downloaded from the BitTorrent site Interfilm.ru instead.
Russian police have carried out what is believed to be the first raid against a BitTorrent tracker. Prompted by the MPA, police arrived at the site’s Moscow office and arrested the owners and several staff. As is so often the case, the arrests failed to close the site, which is currently still operating from The Netherlands.
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Peter Sunde Left Quote
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