Pirates put Harry Potter online

Pirated copies of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are appearing on the internet days before the premiere of the film.

Associated Press (AP) reporters discovered what appeared to be the movie available on a website hosted in Europe.

According to the site, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had already been downloaded more than 500 times.

"The illegal copying and distribution of movies is theft," the studio told AP. "Warner Bros takes the threat of internet piracy very seriously and employs all legal means to contain the unauthorised copying and distribution of our films on the internet."

The film - the second to be adapted from the popular series of children's books - opens this Friday. The first, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was also premiered on the internet by pirates.