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Argentina detains two Russians at US request over copyright violation

The Russians identified as Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova were detained in Cordoba on November 3

NEW YORK, November 17. /TASS/. Two Russian nationals have been detained in Argentina at the request of the US where they are facing charges of copyright infringement, wire fraud and money laundering, the US Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Russians identified as Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova were detained in Cordoba on November 3. The US accuses them of operating Z-Library, an online e-book website that allegedly allowed free downloads of e-books in violation of US law.

The US stated the piracy website existing since 2009 offered about 11 million titles - many of them copyrighted - for download. In addition to indicting the pair, the US took offline and seized about 249 web domains used to operate Z-Library.

The statement didn’t say what punishment the Russians faced if convicted.

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