Operators Of Jetflicks, An Illegal Streaming Service With A Catalog Larger Than Netflix, Prime Video And Hulu Put Together, Convicted By Federal Jury
Five men who ran an illegal streaming service called Jetflicks with origins dating back to 2007 have been convicted by a federal jury in Las Vegas.
Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi, and Peter Huber were found guilty, the Department of Justice announced. Authorities called Jetflicks one of the largest unauthorized streaming services in the U.S. It generated millions of dollars in subscription revenue by offering an illegal, unlicensed stash of TV episodes larger than the combined catalogs of Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Prime Video, the DOJ said.
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Jetflicks used computer scripts and software to scour pirate websites for illegal copies of hundreds of thousands of TV episodes, which they then downloaded and hosted on Jetflicks servers. Dallmann and his co-conspirators made millions of dollars streaming and distributing the stolen content to tens of thousands of paid subscribers, the DOJ said.
The jury convicted Dallman, Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The jury also convicted Dallmann of two counts of money laundering by concealment and three counts of misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement. Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and Dallmann faces a maximum penalty of 48 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
“These convictions underscore the Criminal Division’s commitment to protecting intellectual property rights by prosecuting digital piracy schemes and bringing offenders to justice,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in a press release.
U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada called the case “another example of our steadfast commitment to combat intellectual property theft and to hold accountable those who violate intellectual property rights laws.”
“The defendants ran a platform that automated the theft of TV shows and distributed the stolen content to subscribers,” said Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office. “When complaints from copyright holders and problems with payment service providers threatened to topple the illicit multimillion-dollar enterprise, the defendants tried to disguise Jetflicks as an aviation entertainment company. 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.”
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Las Vegas Field Office.
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