site.btaIllegal Operation Distributing Literary Works and Textbooks Online Busted

Anti-organized crime officers disrupted an illegal operation distributing literary works and textbooks online, the Interior Ministry reported on Thursday. The law enforcement effort was conducted by the Cybercrime Directorate of the Interior Ministry's Directorate General Combating Organized Crime (DGCOC) in coordination with Europol and under the supervision of the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office.

The enforcers took action on Wednesday, as a result of which they prevented the unlawful use of copyrighted literature and textbooks for various university specialities via the website www.7print.bg.

The officers identified the website owner, who has so far offered 13,000 book copies at reduced prices online and through several photocopying centres in Sofia. The items have been distributed without the legally required consent of the authors and the copyright holders. Furthermore, site users' computers became infected with malicious software. The enforcers impounded documents and digital devices and blocked the internet site.

DGCOC and Europol were acting in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).