U.S. Law Enforcement Assists Bulgarian Law Enforcement in Taking Down Three of the Largest Piracy Sites in The European Union

The Three Websites Were Allegedly Operated from Bulgaria and Offered Thousands of Copyrighted Movies, Television Shows, and Other Content Without Authorization The U.S. government executed seizure warrants against three U.S.-registered internet domains of commercial websites allegedly engaged in the illegal distribution of copyrighted works. The coordinated law enforcement operation targeted online services that provided illegal copies of copyrighted works—many belonging to U.S. companies and individuals—including movies, television shows, video games, software, e-books, and other content. According to the affidavits in support of the seizure warrants, the three domains receive tens of millions of visits a year, offer thousands of infringed works, and result in millions of downloads of those works, the retail value totaling millions of dollars. The three domains are among the most popular in Bulgaria—one is often ranked as one of the top 10 most visited domains in Bulgaria —and, given the huge internet traffic they receive every day, seem to make considerable money from advertisements. The seized domains are in the custody of the United States government. Visitors to the sites will now find a seizure banner that notifies them that federal authorities have seized the domain names and that informs them that willful copyright infringement is a crime. The domain are zamunda.net, arenabg.com and zelka.org. The Justice Department is grateful for its Bulgarian partners at the National Investigative Service, the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate Combating Organized Crime, the State Agency for National Security, and the Prosecutor’s Office, and its domestic partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) New Orleans Field Office, and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center). The Justice Department also acknowledges the critical role of Europol, the HSI Athens office, and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Sofia office in coordinating efforts and providing technical assistance.