WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2021) The United Kingdom extradited to the United States a member of a global video piracy group that distributed movies and tv shows on the internet prior, usually before their retail release, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
"As alleged, George Bridi was a member of an international video piracy ring that circumvented copyright protections on nearly every movie released by major production studios, as well as television shows, and distributed them worldwide on the internet," US Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a press release.
Bridi faces charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, wire fraud conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, for his involvement in the Sparks Group video piracy ring, the release said.
The Sparks Group fraudulently obtained copyrighted DVDs and Blu-Ray discs from wholesale distributors in advance of their retail release date. Members then used specialized software to defeat copyright protections and reproduce content in a format that could be easily copied and disseminated on-line, the release said.
Bridi was arrested in August 2020, a month when authorities in 17 countries seized dozens of servers controlled by the Sparks Group and used to store and distribute the stolen content, the release added.
Co-defendant Jonatan Correa, previously pleaded guilty and received a three-year prison sentence, while a second co-defendant remains at large, according to the release.
