The US Department of Justice has issued seizure warrants against three US-registered internet domains tied to commercial websites allegedly operated from Bulgaria and accused of distributing copyrighted content without authorisation.
In a statement, the department said the services offered pirated copies of movies, television programmes and other content, including video games, software and e-books.
According to affidavits supporting the warrants, the three domains attracted “tens of millions” of visits a year, hosted “thousands” of infringed works and drove “millions” of downloads, with retail value totalling millions of dollars. The department said the sites were among the most popular in Bulgaria, with one frequently ranking in the country’s top 10 domains, and appeared to generate significant advertising revenue.
Visitors attempting to reach the services will now see a seizure notice stating the domains are in US government custody and warning that wilful copyright infringement is a crime. The domains named in the action are zamunda.net, arenabg.com and zelka.org.
The operation involved cooperation with Bulgarian agencies and Europol, one of a number of coordinated international law-enforcement operations to take place in recent weeks. The DOJ said it worked with Bulgarian partners including the National Investigative Service, the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime, the State Agency for National Security and the Prosecutor’s Office, alongside US partners including the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, Homeland Security Investigations and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.
The department said the investigation is being led by HSI, with prosecutors from the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the Southern District of Mississippi, and support from its International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property programme based in Bucharest.
