While the U.S. government debates the new "PROTECT IP" bill (.pdf) aimed at ending piracy with controversial means, other governments are tackling the complex problem the old-school way: by arresting those who operate such illicit endeavors.
A report out of France on Monday announced the arrest of three Frenchmen responsible for their alleged leadership of the music and movie file-sharing site, Liberty Land.
TorrentFreak detailed the story after it was covered by Paris-based news group Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday.
Three men between the ages of 25 and 30 were arrested last week in Marseille and face up to five years in prison and fines reaching €500,000, according to the AFP. French police commander Jean Phillipe Vidal told reporters that Liberty Land was an extremely popular site and the most visited destination for downloads in the country.
The suspects had attempted to shield the site by hosting it in Canada said French police, adding that "a significant number of barriers had been put in place to preserve their anonymity."
Liberty Land offered a considerable amount of infringing material to the public, including links to 30,000 albums and over 50,000 movies. It has since been shut down.
Last week a member of popular Swedish file-sharing site The Pirate Bay was fined the Danish equivalent of $35,700 for uploading a movie.
