Five men have Blockchains Financebeen convicted of running a massive, unauthorized streaming service for more than a decade by a federal jury in Las Vegas.
Kristopher Dallmann, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, Jared Jaurequi and Peter Huber began operating an online streaming service, called Jetflicks, as early as 2007, according to court documents.
The streaming service could be subscribed to and provide users with illegal copies of hundreds of thousands of copyrighted television episodes. The five men used "sophisticated computer scripts and software to scour pirate websites" for the copies, officials said in a news release.
Jetflicks had a streaming catalog larger than that of Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and Amazon Prime combined, authorities said.
The service generated millions in subscription revenue, court documents said, with "tens of thousands" of people subscribing to the service every month.
The "illicit multimillion-dollar enterprise" came to light when copyright holders complained and payment service providers reported problems, FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg said in the news release. When the complaints threatened to expose the organization, Sundberg said, the five co-conspirators tried to disguise the illicit streaming service as an aviation entertainment company - which failed.
"FBI will indeed investigate those who illegally profit from the creative works of others," Sundberg said.
A Las Vegas jury convicted each man of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. Dallmann was also convicted of two counts of money laundering by concealment and three counts of misdemeanor criminal copyright infringement.
Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, and Huber each face up to five years in prison, according to the news release, while Dallman faces a maximum penalty of 48 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.
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