Külföldi torrent oldalak British Man Face Jail Time For Circumventing Block On Piracy Websites

A BRITISH man who operated servers which allowed internet users to bypass blockades put in place on pirating websites is facing jail time in an unprecedented case against piracy enablers.

Like the Australian government, the UK has been involved in an ongoing fight to crack down on illegal piracy in recent years.
The country has implemented an internet filter that requires a number of ISPs to block illegal file sharing sites such as Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents.

In 2014, Callum Haywood was arrested for his involvement with several proxy sites and services that allowed users to circumvent the blockade by using mirror sites to access the torrents.

He was interviewed by police at the time and released as investigators continued working on the case. But this week they formally announced charges against the young developer, in a case that could send shock waves through the pirating community.

The 22-year-old is charged with one count of converting and/or transferring criminal property and six counts of possession of an article for use in fraud. The charges relate to his operation of a Pirate Bay proxy and two KickassTorrent proxies.

The first charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years while the latter count is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The case is the first of its kind in the country and even though not all ISPs are mandated to block the sites, the prosecution will argue Mr Haywood’s activities flagrantly contravened the blockage orders issued by the country’s High Court.

Mr Haywood is due to face court in April for a preliminary hearing.