Men Behind Illegal Streaming Site Bigger Than Netflix, Hulu, And Prime Combined Convicted
One of the men is facing a maximum sentence of 48 years in prison.
www.gamespot.com
The US Department of Justice has announced that a federal jury in Las Vegas convicted five men recently for their roles in operating an illegal streaming service in the US that was said to have more content than Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, and Vudu combined.
The service, Jetflicks, generated millions in subscription revenue, the DOJ said, and caused "substantial harm" to the owners of the programming.
Starting as early as 2007, Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi, and Peter Huber ran Jetflicks, the DOJ said, noting that the website used "sophisticated computer scripts and software" to find illegal copies of TV shows that were downloaded and hosted on Jetflicks servers. The DOJ said the men "reproduced hundreds of thousands of copyrighted television episodes without authorization," noting that Jetflicks had "tens of thousands" of paying members.
"The defendants conspired to operate an online streaming service that unlawfully reproduced and distributed thousands of copyrighted television programs for their own personal gain," US Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada said in a news release. "This case is another example of our steadfast commitment to combat intellectual property theft and to hold accountable those who violate intellectual property rights laws."
FBI Washington field office assistant director David Sundberg said the defendants tried to disguise Jetflicks as an aviation entertainment company after copyright holders began to take notice.
"Digital piracy is not a victimless crime. As these convictions demonstrate, the FBI will indeed investigate those who illegally profit from the creative works of others," Sundberg said.
Specifically, Dallman, Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber were convicted by a jury for conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. Dallman himself was also convicted on two counts of money laundering and three counts of misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement. Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber are facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while Dallman is facing a maximum sentence of 48 years in prison.
The government has not yet set a sentencing date.
Variety reported that another member of the original group, Darryl Julius Polo, previously left Jetflicks to start a competing site known as iStreamItAll, which also did not have a license for its content. Polo pleaded guilty in 2019 to criminal copyright and money laundering charges and received a sentence of 57 months in prison and was ordered to give up $1 million from "criminal proceeds."
