Internet pirates face eight years in prison

The men face up to eight years in prison and a €12,000 fine for managing Youkioske, an online website for illegally downloading books, magazines and newspapers.

Prosecutors accuse David González Hernández, Raúl Antonio Luque Gutiérrez and Óscar González Hernández of profiting from intellectual property theft by disseminating content without the owners’ permission.

The three men earned €196,280.71 in advertising revenue from June 2009 to May 2012, when they were caught and arrested by police in Madrid.

During this time, they published 17,000 copies of publications in Spanish, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Dutch.

Publications included national daily newspapers alongside magazines including El Mundo del Gato (Cat's World) and Playboy. 

Spain introduced tougher rules to limit internet piracy in the new penal code in September, a move which sparked controversy.

This was done to address recent reports of high piracy activity in the country. 

Research firm Nielsen estimated in 2012 that 45% of Spain’s internet users visit a site that offers pirated music and films.