Customs officers have arrested a 38-year-old man for using a BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing programme to distribute two films on an Internet discussion forum.

The case was detected last week when officers were monitoring illegal file sharing activities on the Internet - especially in popular local discussion forums.

Officers tracked down the suspect's location with the service provider's support and arrested him yesterday. A computer and related net-serving peripheral equipment worth $10,000 were seized in his residence.

Copyright Ordinance infringers face four-years' jail and a fine of up to $50,000 per infringing copy of intellectual property.

Call the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 to report suspected online piracy activity.