London Daily

Focus on the big picture.

British man gets 22 months in prison over global movie piracy -U.S. judge

British man gets 22 months in prison over global movie piracy -U.S. judge

A British man was sentenced on Monday to a 22-month prison term after admitting involvement in a global piracy ring that caused major losses for movie and TV production studios by distributing unreleased content online.
George Bridi, a 52-year-old former disk jockey, had already spent 17-1/2 months in jail since his arrest in Cyprus over his work for the Sparks Group, which prosecutors called an international online piracy group.

Bridi pleaded guilty in November to a copyright infringement conspiracy charge.

"Infringement of U.S. copyrights is a big problem in our economy," U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said. "It's doubly troubling that it can be conducted ... from outside the U.S."

The Manhattan judge said Bridi played an "important supervisory role" in the piracy scheme. In addition to imposing the 22-month prison term, Berman ordered the defendant to pay $120,000 in restitution.

Sparks allegedly cost studios tens of millions of dollars over nearly a decade by leaking movies and TV shows before their scheduled release dates.

Prosecutors said the group concocted bogus reasons to obtain early copies of copyrighted DVDs and Blu-Ray discs from wholesale distributors.

Sparks then used computers to override the discs' copyright protections, known as "cracking" or "ripping," and recoded the discs with such names as "Drones," "Rovers," "Geckos" and "Sprinter" so they could be shared online, prosecutors said.

Before being sentenced, Bridi said he had gone down the "wrong path," and that his actions hurt studios and employees.

"I am deeply remorseful," Bridi said. "I'm really sorry for what I've done."

Prosecutors had sought a 27- to 33-month prison term, mirroring federal sentencing recommendations.

Bridi's lawyer sought his client's release, saying he had spent enough time behind bars and wanted to reunite with his wife and twin teenage sons.

The defendant was born and raised in Ghana, and in 2012 moved to England, where he lived on the Isle of Wight. He was arrested in August 2020 and extradited a year later.

Two other defendants have also been charged in the case. Jonatan Correa, pleaded guilty to a copyright infringement conspiracy charge and was sentenced last May to 2-1/4 years of supervised release, while Umar Ahmad of Norway is at large.
Newsletter

Related Articles

London Daily
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Unveils New Cryptocurrency Venture Amidst Campaign
Meta Introduces New 'Teen Accounts' for Instagram Users Under 18
OpenAI Advances with New AI Model 'o1'
One in Five GPs Use AI for Daily Tasks
Italy’s Approach to Reducing Irregular Migration: A Model for the UK?
NGOs Condemn Home Office's £15m Offer for Deportee Resettlement
Sue Gray's Salary Sparks Controversy Among Labour Advisers
Navigating Fashion: UK Leaders' Spouses in the Media Age
Top UK Food Firms Criticized for High Emissions
Keir Starmer Pressured to Select Outsider for Top Civil Service Role
British MPs and International Organisations' X Accounts Hacked
Diddy Charged with Racketeering and Sex Trafficking
X Update Enables App to Bypass Brazil Ban, Say Internet Providers
Delta Airlines Sets Strict Wardrobe Guidelines for Flight Attendants
Norway Achieves Milestone in Electric Vehicle Adoption
Hezbollah Hit by Explosive Pagers in Lebanon
Ex-Soldier Describes Trump Assassination Suspect's Troubled Ukraine Stint
The Observer, World's Oldest Sunday Newspaper, Up for Sale
JPMorgan in Negotiations with Apple Over Credit Card Partnership
Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex-Trafficking Conviction Upheld by Appeals Court
Will the Blind Commander-in-Chief Lead Blind Voters into War?
Hillary Clinton Suggests Jailing Americans for Posting “Misinformation”
El Salvador's Bold Move: President Bukele Declares End to External Debt Reliance, Thanks to Bitcoin
Startup Nation Unleashes Cyber Mastery: Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus. Initial reports estimate around 1,000 casualties so far.
Patient Controls Amazon's Alexa Using Brain Implant
Murdoch Family Legal Feud Could Alter Fox News' Future
US Diplomat Condemns Racism Against Indian Americans
Amazon Mandates Full Return to Office for Employees
Starmer Interested in Italy's Albania Asylum Plan: Meloni
Traffic to be Banned from London's Oxford Street under Sadiq Khan's Plan
Sky Betting & Gaming Reprimanded for Data Misuse
Ex-BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Sentenced Over Indecent Images of Children
UN Chief Criticizes Israel's Collective Punishment of Palestinians
High School Dropout Turned Billionaire and Space Tourist
FBI Investigates Assassination Attempt on Trump in Florida
A History of Assassination Attempts on US Leaders
UK Drops Harvey Weinstein Indecent Assault Charges
David Lammy Defends Political Donors Funding Clothing for UK Leaders
Starmer Pressured to Distance UK from Italy’s Immigration Approach
UK Airport Expansion Plans Amid Controversy
Columnists Resign from Jewish Chronicle Over Fabricated Gaza Articles
Jeremy Corbyn Advocates for New Leftwing Party
Successful Splashdown of SpaceX Polaris Dawn After Pioneering Private Spacewalk
UK Royal Family Extends Birthday Wishes to Prince Harry
Switzerland Unveils Alps, a High-Speed Supercomputer for AI
Hong Kong Criticizes UK Lawyers for UN Appeal on Behalf of Jimmy Lai
Keir Starmer Accused of Breaking Rules Over Party Donor Gifts
Poorest Families in UK Forced to Sleep on Floors Due to Lack of Beds
Ed Davey Urges Immediate NHS Investment
Staff Overwhelmed Due to New Child-to-Staff Ratio Rules in English Nurseries
×