Moscow residents Andrey and Natalya Lopukhov have been charged with Internet video piracy, with Russian and international copyright owners seeking damages estimated at over 38 billion rubles, or $1.26 billion. The Russian Office of the Prosecutor General ordered the couple to be arraigned in court on criminal charges, the Russian press reported last week.
According to the investigation, the couple illegally distributed more than 30 movies and cartoons from their home computer equipment through the Internet from April 2007 to September 2008. They used a variety of aliases – such as Ripper, Shturman, Nadezhda and Piratka – with the assistance of an accomplice residing in Germany.
Among those films were Shrek 3, 28 Weeks After, Resident Evil 3 as well as a number of well known Russian movies and syndicated cartoons. Right owners include Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., Central Partnership and others.
Should the Lopukhov family be found guilty, they could face up to 6 years in prison with a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles.
Source: CNews.ru
