Danish police arrest two for running Popcorn Time guide sites
Danish law enforcement officers have reportedly arrested a pair of men for running two websites tangentially related to Popcorn Time, an outlaw site billed as the "Netflix for Torrenting." Not only that, the police have also shut down both Popcorntime.dk and Popcorn-time.dk, and seized the domains. Each man faces a maximum jail term of six years for his involvement.
While arrests for running copyright infringing websites aren't that uncommon, this case is notable as neither site actually hosted any infringing content, links to the software and neither man was involved in Popcorn Time's development. The sites were, in fact, simply resource guides providing readers with news and FAQs about Popcorn Time.
"The case is important because, firstly, it shows that [site operators] can be revealed by the police. This has consequences and it also conveys the message that this behavior is illegal," Danish police Fraud Squad Inspector Michael Hellensberg said in a statement. "Thus there is hopefully a deterrent effect against feeling confident that you can sit wherever you want and try to implement such things." Apparently in Denmark, even talking about illegally-accessed content is enough to get you thrown into shackles.
