Eight people charged with running illegal streaming services
They allegedly ran Jetflicks and iStreamItAll.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
The people alleged to be running Jetflicks and iStreamItAll have been charged.
A federal grand jury has charged eight people with running the two biggest illegal streaming services in the nation, the US Department of Justice announced Tuesday. The streaming sites named by the Justice Department were Jetflicks and iStreamItAll (ISIA).
"The two services allegedly offered more television programs and movies than legitimate streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu , Vudu and Amazon Prime Video," the Justice Department said in a press release.
The streaming services could be used across computers, phones , tablets , TVs , gaming consoles, digital media players and set-top boxes, the Justice Department alleges.
Following an FBI investigation, the Justice Department alleges Jetflicks was run by Kristopher Lee Dallmann, 36; Darryl Julius Polo, aka djppimp, 36; Douglas M. Courson, 59; Felipe Garcia, 37; Jared Edward Jaurequi, aka Jared Edwards, 38; Peter H. Huber, 61; Yoany Vaillant, aka Yoany Vaillant Fajardo, 38; and Luis Angel Villarino, 40. The department said Polo left Jetflicks to start up ISIA.
Both streaming sites were headquartered in Las Vegas, the Justice Department said.
The eight people have been charged with conspiracy to violate criminal copyright law, which the Justice Department said cost TV and movie copyright owners millions of dollars. Jetflicks at one point claimed to have over 183,000 TV episodes, while ISIA claimed 115,800 TV episodes and 10,500 movies, prosecutors said. It is alleged they gained this content from piracy websites like The Pirate Bay and Torrentz.
The group "used sophisticated computer code to scour global pirate sites for new illegal content," the Department of Justice said.
They were also charged with money laundering; criminal copyright infringement by reproduction or distribution; and criminal copyright by public performance.
