Slovak teen risks prison for pirating movies on Internet

An 18-year-old Slovak is facing up to five years behind bars for posting links sharing pirated movie downloads on the Internet, police in the capital Bratislava said in a statement Friday.

"He stands accused of copyright violation for posting download links to at least 150 movies on various discussion forums on the Internet," it said.

"Since 2008, he has caused copyright holders damage worth 96,750 euros ($118,175)," the police added.

Downloading movies or music for personal use is legal in Slovakia but it is illegal to share the downloaded content on the Internet, either for commercial use or for free.

According to the justice ministry, 12 people were convicted of copyright violations in Slovakia last year.

(c) 2012 AFP