Federal prosecutors have charged two Russian nationals suspected of operating the Z-Library e-book piracy website. The site has since been shut down by the Department of Justice.
Last month, the alleged masterminds behind Z-Library, an e-book piracy site who claims to be the largest library in the world “, have been arrested. According to a press release issued by the US Department of Justice, Russian nationals Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova have been charged with “ criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud and money laundering for operating Z-Library “.
This online library was used to share files with normally paid content, such as academic journal articles or textbooks. For many Internet users, the Z-Library site was certainly illegal, but it was a great way to access some resources having to spend a lot of money.
Read also – Amazon Kindle will finally support e-books in ePub format
Z-Library shuts down after hackers are arrested
According to a recently uncovered indictment, Anton Napolsky, 33, and Valeriia Ermakova, 27, both of St. Petersburg, Russia, operated the site between January 2018 and November 2022, allowing people to freely download pirated books and academic papers. With nearly 12 million books, Z-Library presented itself as the largest repository of pirated books on the Internet.
The duo ” has knowingly and willfully infringed a copyright for commercial advantage and private financial gain “by distributing copyrighted works” having a total retail value of more than $2,500 “, according to court documents.
FBI Deputy Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll points out that Z-Library has been in operation for more than ten years. As such, the site has impacted the earnings of authors and publishers of millions of books. ” Intellectual property theft crimes rob victims of both their ingenuity and their hard-earned income. The FBI is determined to ensure that those willing to steal and profit from the creativity of others are caught and face consequences in the criminal justice system. said Driscoll.