Asia-Pacific News

Hong Kong arrests third BitTorrent user for sharing movies online

Apr 29, 2009, 3:40 GMT

Hong Kong - Customs officers in Hong Kong said Wednesday they arrested an internet user for distributing movies using BitTorrent technology, the third such arrest of its kind. The jobless 38-year-old was arrested after investigators monitoring internet use allegedly caught him sharing two movies Monday night. The suspect was later released on bail as customs officer prepare for what could be the third case against BitTorrent users in Hong Kong, which has set world precedents in file-sharing prosecutions. In 2005, a man who uploaded three copyrighted movies for file-sharers to download was jailed for three months in Hong Kong in the first prosecution of its kind worldwide. A second investigation is ongoing into activities of a 27-year-old woman after customs officers installed a monitoring system to track the activities of BitTorrent users in the city of 7 million. BitTorrent is a file-sharing technology used to share downloaded video and audio files from the internet. The technology itself is legal but users break the law if they use it to share copyrighted material.

Asia-Pacific News

Hong Kong arrests third BitTorrent user for sharing movies online

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