Three seized domains that allegedly were engaged in the illegal distribution of copyrighted works, zamunda.net, arenabg.com and zelka.org, are in the custody of the United States government. Visitors to the sites will now find a seizure banner that notifies them that federal authorities have seized the domain names and that informs them that willful copyright infringement is a crime.
The coordinated law enforcement operation targeted online services that provided illegal copies of copyrighted works—many belonging to U.S. companies and individuals—including movies, television shows, video games, software, e-books, and other content.
According to a report from Nova in Bulgaria, the sites operated as torrent trackers and offered a wide range of content, including films, music, games, software. Some time ago, the Bulgarian authorities had stated that “pre-trial proceedings had been initiated” against the platforms in question for “intellectual property crimes and tax offenses.”
According to affidavits in support of the seizure warrants, the three domains receive tens of millions of visits a year, offer thousands of infringed works, and result in millions of downloads of those works, the retail value totaling millions of dollars.
The three domains are among the most popular in Bulgaria—one is often ranked as one of the top 10 most visited domains in Bulgaria —and, given the huge internet traffic they receive every day, seem to make considerable money from advertisements.
Europol, the HSI Athens office, and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Sofia office provided coordinating efforts and technical assistance. Bulgarian partners included the National Investigative Service, GDBOP (Bulgaria Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate Combating Organized Crime), the State Agency for National Security, and the Prosecutor’s Office.
US agencies partnering with the US DoJ included the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) New Orleans Field Office, and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center).
The Justice Department provides intellectual property and cybercrime technical assistance to foreign law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial partners in other countries, including Bulgaria, through the International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) program.
The IPR Center is one of the U.S. government’s key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy. The IPR Center uses the expertise of its member agencies to share information, develop initiatives, and coordinate enforcement actions and conduct investigations related to IP theft. Through this strategic interagency partnership, the IPR Center protects the public’s health and safety, the U.S. economy and the war fighters. To report IP theft or to learn more about the IPR Center, visit www.IPRCenter.gov.
Further reading
US law enforcement assists Bulgarian law enforcement in taking down three of the largest piracy sites in the European Union. Press release. January 31, 2026. US Department of Justice
Bulgaria’s largest piracy websites taken down after operation by Europol, GDBOP, US Agencies. Article. January 30, 2026. Nova
