After a decade since the closure of the torrent site P2Planet.net, a Greek court has sentenced its former administrator to five years in prison, along with a fine of €10,000 and €1,800 in court costs. This ruling marks a significant milestone in Greece, being the first instance where an individual has been incarcerated for file sharing via BitTorrent.
The 59-year-old resident of Piraeus was charged with operating a private torrent network that was active from 2011 to 2014. At the time of its closure, the site boasted over 44,000 registered users and approximately 14,000 torrents, which included a variety of films, music, and software. Notably, the project did not generate substantial profits, and the administrator faced ongoing challenges with hosting costs and DDoS attacks.
Following a police raid on his apartment more than ten years ago, authorities seized a hard drive and subsequently forwarded the case to court. It is only now, after years of legal proceedings, that the Piraeus Appeals Court has delivered its verdict. The arrest of the man in the courtroom came as a shock to observers present.
Precedent in the Fight Against Piracy
The Greek authorities appear to be intensifying their efforts against copyright infringement. Previously, a similar sentence was handed down to the administrator of other torrent sites, greekstars.net and greekstars.co. Initially, that sentence was suspended, but the individual was later imprisoned following attempts to relaunch the platforms.
While the majority of pirated content is now disseminated through streaming services, P2P networks continue to attract the attention of law enforcement, particularly within EU nations.
