A Las Vegas jury convicted five men of operating what the US government described as “one of the largest unauthorized streaming services in the United States.” Prosecutors claimed that the site, Jetflicks, “generated millions of dollars in subscription revenue while causing substantial harm to television show copyright owners.”
According to the Justice Department“the group reproduced hundreds of thousands of copyrighted television episodes without authorization, amassing a catalog larger than the combined catalogs of Netflix, Huluvoodoo and Amazon Prime. [Kristopher] Dallmann and his accomplices made millions of dollars by streaming and distributing this catalog of stolen content to tens of thousands of paid subscribers.” The service supposedly generated millions in profits for the owners.
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At trial, the prosecution claimed that the men (Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe García, Jared Jaurequi and Peter Huber) used “sophisticated computer scripts and software to scour pirate websites for illegal copies of television episodes, which they then “They downloaded and hosted.” on Jetflicks servers.”
“Digital piracy is not a victimless crime,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “As these convictions demonstrate, the FBI will indeed investigate those who illegally profit from the creative works of others.”
The five men in the case were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, and Dallmann was found guilty of additional charges of money laundering by concealment and misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement. While the other four men could receive a maximum of five years in prison, Dallmann could end up in prison for up to 48 years. The men will be sentenced at a later date.
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Gallery credit: Emma Stefansky