Janice R. Andrews
Five men were found guilty by a federal jury in Las Vegas of organizing Jetflicks, one of the biggest illegal streaming services in the United States, in a historic decision. After being found guilty of criminal copyright infringement, the defendants—Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi, and Peter Huber—face harsh consequences.
Jetflicks, a service that charged customers $9.99 a month, generated millions of dollars in income from its illegal storage of more than 183,200 TV episodes. The content library was compared by prosecutors to the aggregate collections of Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Prime Video. The team, which has been active since 2007, used cutting-edge technologies to search copyrighted TV series from pirate websites and store them on Jetflicks’ servers.
The verdicts underline the harsh financial consequences for copyright holders and the Justice Department’s campaign against digital piracy. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri stressed, saying, “Their strategy caused copyright owners to lose money, while generating millions of dollars in unlawful profits.”
When copyright holders and payment service providers sued Jetflicks, the defendants tried to hide their identity by posing as an aviation entertainment firm. Their complex attempts finally came to naught, resulting in convictions for conspiring to violate copyright.
In addition, he was found guilty of money laundering and misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement. Kristopher Dallmann may spend up to 48 years in jail, while the maximum sentence for each of his co-defendants is five years. The defendants’ date of sentence is still pending.
This historic case is a major win in the fight against internet piracy and should act as a deterrent to other parties running similar illegal businesses.
