Founded: December 1995 Bulgaria's anti-piracy organization, fighting illegal distribution of video products and entertainment software Achieved substantial success in curbing video cassette piracy Increasingly looking into the legality of Bulgarian free web hosting services

The Bulgarian Association Against Copyright Theft (BullACT) was founded in the mid-1990s, as Bulgaria was tackling a swamp of elaborate piracy rings, distributing video cassettes to every corner of the country. The majority of video rental stores offered low-quality, yet cheap pirated cassettes.

In 1995, the Bulgarian government adopted an amendment to the country's Criminal Code that outlawed the theft of entertainment products, laying the foundation for BullACT's subsequent activities as a national anti-piracy group, working in conjunction with law enforcement authorities.

In the late 1990s, a multitude of raids and seizures were conducted across the country in a massive campaign to clamp down on distribution of illegally copied movies.

"We have truly big successes," Velislava Dimitrova, administrative director of BullACT, told Svetlozar Online. "Today, over 90 percent of video rentals are legal."

Still, the frustrating economic situation has forced motion picture distributors to substantially cut down prices. The 24-hour rent of a video cassette hovers around $1.20 and can go as low as 63¢.

Due to the rampant distribution of movies in the Bulgarian Internet space, however, BullACT is increasingly turning its attention to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offering free web hosting. The relatively low penetration of broadband connections in the country has been seen as the primary impediment of movie piracy on the Internet, but Svetlozar Online's research indicates the problem is growing.

Most Internet cafés in Bulgaria offer access to downloaded motion pictures, most of which have not even reached the country's movie theaters. BullACT, however, remained reluctant to declare the free web hosting providers in breach of Bulgarian copyright laws.

"The companies move on the edge," explained Alexander Tuikov, an expert at BullACT, to Svetlozar Online.

Asked whether Bulgarian legislation is sufficient from the association's viewpoint, Ms. Dimitrova affirmed there is greater need to implement current laws.

Maria Strong, vice president and general counsel of the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) echoed that claim.

"The political will to protect creative copyright-protected materials is necessary at the highest levels of the government," she wrote to Svetlozar Online.