The ringleader of the Jetflicks unlawful paid streaming operation, a large service with tens of hundreds of subscribers, was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Along with 4 different accomplices, 42-year-old Kristopher Lee Dallmann of Las Vegas, Nevada, was convicted in June 2024 of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
Dallmann was additionally discovered responsible by a federal jury of cash laundering, legal copyright infringement by distribution, and legal copyright infringement by public efficiency.
“Dallmann reaped hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in revenue from the operation. The federal government conservatively estimated the worth of the copyright infringement within the case at $37.5 million,” the Justice Division stated.
“This included the approximate retail worth of the defendants’ replica of infringing works to create the Jetflicks stock in addition to the approximate retail worth of the streams of pirated tv episodes that the defendants supplied to subscribers.”
Through the trial, proof revealed that the piracy ring used automated software program and scripts to scan international web sites for pirated content material. This unlawful content material was then downloaded, processed, saved, and made accessible on servers in the US and Canada for tens of hundreds of paid subscribers to stream or obtain.
The Jetflicks unlawful streaming service additionally usually delivered episodes to subscribers the day after they aired on tv and was designed to work throughout numerous units and platforms.
Jetflicks operated for 12 years, from 2007 till its shutdown by the FBI in 2019, and provided over 10,500 motion pictures and 183,000 TV episodes to its subscribers at its peak, all of which had been pirated from platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime.
“This scheme generated hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in legal earnings, and harm hundreds of U.S. firms and people who owned the copyrights to those reveals however by no means acquired a penny in compensation from Jetflicks,” stated Appearing Assistant Legal professional Normal Matthew R. Galeotti.
“By constructing and operating one of many largest unauthorized streaming companies within the U.S., these people not solely stole from content material creators and legit streaming companies, they undermined the integrity of our economic system and the rule of regulation,” added Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Felony Investigative Division.
In December 2024, the Alliance for Creativity and Leisure (ACE) additionally took down Vietnam-based Markkystreams, one of many world’s largest reside sports activities streaming piracy networks, which acquired over 821 million visits final 12 months.
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