New York – The U.S. Justice Dept.’s Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) units this week
announced the arrest of the operator of a website it says illegally streamed
live, copyrighted sporting events.
Bryan McCarthy, 32, of Deer Park, Texas has
been charged with criminal copyright infringement for his site
ChannelSurfing.net, a domain seized last month by U.S. authorities.
While the
announcement from ICE and HSI states the site itself streamed live sporting
events, the criminal complaint lodged against McCarthy calls the site "an
online portal," which indexed links to live TV streams of sporting events available
on other websites.
"Brian McCarthy allegedly sought to profit by
intercepting and then streaming live sporting events, hiding behind the
anonymity of the internet to make a quick buck through what is little more than
high-tech thievery," said Preet Bhara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of New York.
The complaint alleges McCarthy profited $90,000 from ads
on ChannelSurfing.net over the past five years.
If convicted, McCarthy faces up
to five years in prison.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4vhf3om
(ICE statement)
http://tinyurl.com/4k97rnq
(TorrentFreak)
