These charges are significant, said Ernesto van der Sar, the founder of TorrentFreak, an outlet that has covered the piracy scene for years. “This is pretty high up,” he said. According to the statement from the authorities, members of the Sparks Group fraudulently obtained DVDs and Blu-ray discs from wholesale distributors in New York and New Jersey, at times misrepresenting why they were obtaining the discs before the retail release date. From 2011 to 2020, Mr. Ahmad and Mr. Bridi arranged for discs to be mailed or delivered to other members of the group, including Mr. Correa, prosecutors said. The men were also accused of using software to circumvent copyright protections in order to distribute movies or television shows online.

Source: International New York Times August 26, 2020 23:26 UTC