British man extradited to US on movie piracy charges

A United Kingdom citizen was extradited to the United States from Cyprus on Tuesday on charges alleging that he and others illegally distributed movies and TV shows online.

George Bridi faces charges of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said.

Bridi is scheduled to be presented and arraigned before a magistrate judge in Manhattan on Wednesday.

Reuters could not immediately find a lawyer for Bridi. According to the wire service, the charges could add up to 30 years in prison for the British national.

Prosecutors allege that Bridi was involved in a larger group, called the Sparks Group, that illegally distributed film and TV content online before they were officially released. They also accuse the group of obtaining Blu-Ray discs and DVDs fraudulently prior to their release date from wholesale distributors. Copyright material was allegedly “cracked” from these discs and illegally uploaded online later on.

The press release said that studios lost tens of millions of dollars from the Sparks Group.

“As alleged, George Bridi was a member of an international video piracy ring that circumvented copyright protections on nearly every movie released by major production studios, as well as television shows, and distributed them worldwide on the Internet,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement. “Thanks to the assistance of our law enforcement partners, the piracy ring has been busted and Bridi is now in U.S. custody.”

One co-defendant is at large while another was sentenced to jail earlier this year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.