Hyderabad Cybercrime cops dismantle movie piracy network, 5 held

Hyderabad Cybercrime police busted a major movie piracy network, arresting five men involved in leaking new Telugu films. The racket caused Rs 22,400 crore loss to the industry in 2023. Pirated films were traced to hacked servers and theatre recordings

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cybercrime police have dismantled a sophisticated movie piracy racket, arresting five key individuals and issuing notices to five others for aiding and abetting the illegal operation.

The network was involved in pirating and distributing newly released Telugu films, causing significant financial losses to the Indian film industry, which suffered an estimated Rs 22,400 crore loss due to piracy in 2023.

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The arrested suspects are Ashwani Kumar (21) from Bihar, Cyril Infant Raj Amaladoss (32) from Tamil Nadu, Jana Kiran Kumar (29) from Hyderabad, Sudhakaran (31) from Tamil Nadu and Arsalan Ahmed (23) from Goa.

The operation followed complaints from the Anti-Video Piracy Cell of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC) in June this year, alleging piracy of films ‘Single’ and ‘HIT: The Third Case’ on the very day of release. Subsequent investigations revealed that pirated copies were being uploaded to notorious piracy websites.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand highlighted the operation was among the most significant anti-piracy actions in the country, targeting piracy across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bollywood, and Hollywood films.

Forensic watermarking traced the leaks to theatre copies as well as hacked digital media servers, prompting the registration of two cases under multiple sections of the IT Act, Copyright Act, and Cinematograph Act.

“The piracy network operated through two primary methods, the cam-recording in theatres and hacking studio and digital media servers. The pirated content was distributed via torrent websites, Telegram channels, and illegal streaming platforms, often sponsored by online gaming and betting operators,” Anand said adding that payments were made using cryptocurrencies to maintain anonymity.

During raids, authorities seized laptops, CPUs, tablets, hard disks, mobiles, pen drives, web cams, and other electronic equipment used in the commission of the crime.

Police advisory:

*Movie piracy is punishable with up to three years imprisonment and/or fines up to Rs 2 lakh.

*Beware of illegal gaming/betting promotions linked to pirated content.

*Producers/Creators have to implement robust digital watermarking and forensics to track content leakage.

*Cinema Theatres/Multiplexes have to deploy additional manpower to prevent cam-recording during screenings.

*Digital Media Companies/Hosting Providers/ISPs have to strengthen server security, monitor for illegal distribution, and act promptly on reports of piracy.