• Home
  • The Tech Tin About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

The Tech Tin

The Best In Tech

  • New Technology
  • Cool Gadgets
  • Latest Tech & Gadgets
  • Tech & Gadget Reviews
  • Tech & Gadget News
  • Gadgets Shop

FBI Help German Authorities Secure $29.7m in Crypto From Pirate Streaming Site

Leave a Comment

Movie2KJust over seven years ago, pirate streaming site Movie2K was riding on the crest of wave after establishing itself as one of the most popular platforms of its type on the Internet.

The site was particularly popular in Germany where it was the 19th most popular site overall, generating more traffic than Twitter, Amazon, Apple and PayPal. At the end of May 2013, however, the site shut down without warning, prompting theories of legal pressure.

Last November the Attorney General’s Office in Dresden revealed that two men then aged 44 and 37 had been arrested under suspicion of being the former operators of Movie2K.

They stand accused of distributing 880,000 copies of movies and TV shows between 2008 and 2013 when Movie2K was closed down. A third man, identified as a 37-year-old real estate entrepreneur, was also detained under suspicion of money laundering offenses.

Movie2K

According to a new announcement, two of the men have remained in custody since their arrests last year and are now cooperating with the authorities, with interesting results.

Large Amount of Crypto Seized But Huge Volumes Already Spent

From the information released thus far, it appears that Movie2K generated revenue in at least two ways – regular advertising and so-called ‘subscription traps’. The latter is when individuals sign up for a service and then find it hard or impossible to escape from a supposed contract they didn’t anticipate or were even told about.

The Dresden Prosecutor’s Office suggests that schemes were lucrative, with the authorities revealing that they have managed to seize Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash with a total value of 25 million euros (US$29.7m). The site’s programmer reportedly released the crypto haul as a step towards “damage reparation” but it appears that much more income was generated and indeed spent before the police became involved.

Read  ACE Obtains DMCA Subpoena to Unmask Operators of Major Pirate Sites

Authorities say that the site’s main operators started converting cash into bitcoins in 2012 and going by the figures released thus far, the numbers are eye-watering.

At Today Rates, Bitcoin Worth More Than a Quarter of a Billion Dollars

It’s claimed that the programmer alone received 22,000 bitcoins, which at today’s rates would’ve been worth close to US$257m. Obviously the numbers would’ve been less impressive seven years ago but nevertheless, the site was clearly making plenty of money from its activities.

From the fall of 2013 to mid-2016, it’s alleged that the programmer mainly spent his crypto on properties, which were acquired with the assistance of the real estate entrepreneur, who is also cooperating with the authorities. German news outlet Tarnkappe reports that the properties have also been seized.

A “clear and reliable identification” of the cryptocurrency was carried out following an investigation by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office which received assistance from forensic experts at the FBI.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

The Pirate Bay Receives Under $5 in Bitcoin Donations Per Day Pirate Streaming Site Uses Associated Press For Promo Campaign APK Download Site Must Pay $150,000 For Offering Pirate Streaming Apps Sports Streaming Site Rojadirecta Loses Appeal of Danish Site Blocking Case

Filed Under: Tech & Gadget News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Your Free Flashlight Here
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • RIAA: Not Even Improper YouTube ‘Rolling Cipher’ Complaints Can Be Countered January 18, 2021
  • Danish Torrent Tracker Crackdown Leads to Six New Arrests January 18, 2021
  • How the MP3, Pirates and Apple Changed The Music Industry January 17, 2021
  • Smart Home Gadgets Are Not the Future – Bloomberg January 17, 2021
  • TikTok Using DMCA to Take Down Reverse-Engineered Source Code January 17, 2021

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 55 other subscribers


Copyright © 2021 · The-Tech-Tin.Com