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Movie Pirate Pleads Guilty, Faces Five Years in Prison, Forfeits Millions of DollarsAndy, 26 Nov 05:07 PM In October 2013, Homeland Security Investi

Movie Pirate Pleads Guilty, Faces Five Years in Prison, Forfeits Millions of Dollars Andy, 26 Nov 05:07 PM In October 2013, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents received information from PayPal concerning two 'pirate' websites, Noobroom.com and Noobroom7.com. For a fee, the sites allowed subscribers to stream movies and TV shows, which was of particular interest to the MPAA. Their investigation concluded that the platforms distributed works in breach of their members' copyrights. In July the following year, the MPAA sent a cease-and-desist notice to Noobroom but within days, the site shifted its users to a new site, SuperChillin.com. The MPAA determined that the platforms – plus another pair named as Movietv.co and SitPlay.com – were operated by Oregon resident Talon White. With White under suspicion of copyright and money laundering offenses, last November a magistrate judge in Oregon approved a search and seizure warrant targeting millions in cash and cryptocurrency. On Monday, the Department of Justice revealed that after netting more than $8 million from his piracy activities, Talon had pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal copyright infringement and tax evasion. According to the Department of Justice, White underreported his income by more than $4.4 million from 2013 through 2017, resulting in a willful underpayment of $1.9 million in taxes. The penalties faced by White are severe. On top of a potential five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years' supervised release on each of the two charges, the financial implications are already massive. White has entered into a plea agreement which will see him forfeit $3.9 million seized from his bank accounts, $35,000 in cash, cryptocurrency worth around $424,000, plus his home in Oregon, currently valued at $415,000. On top, he must pay $669,557 in restitution to the MPAA and $3,392,708 in restitution, which includes penalties and interest, to the IRS. White will be sentenced on February 21, 2020, before U.S. District Court Judge Ann L. Aiken. In the meantime, however, the case raises additional interest in at least two other directions. A case revealed at the weekend in New Zealand appears to have some similarities with White's. Both involve a pirate movie site in the US, both received a PayPal referral for suspicious activity, and both resulted in the seizure of large volumes of cash and cryptocurrency. Finally, the involvement of the IRS in a criminal copyright infringement case raises questions about what lies ahead for Gears Reloaded founder Omar Carrasquillo, aka YouTube OMI IN A HELLCAT. Last week, he reported that he'd been raided by several FBI officers and a single IRS agent who seized "pretty much everything", including millions of dollars, a huge car collection, and a large collection of jewelry. Ever since he's been posting videos on the topic, one of which included a brief glimpse of a purported search a seizure warrant issued by a court in Pennsylvania. Carrasquillo insists that what he did in respect of IPTV isn't a crime in the United States but concedes that he didn't pay his taxes in a timely manner and he's learned his lesson. He hopes that the money seized will cover his back taxes but still expects to spend some time in prison. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. TekSavvy Appeals First Canadian Pirate Site Blockade Ernesto, 26 Nov 11:01 AM Two weeks ago Canada's Federal Court approved the first pirate site blockade in the country. Following a complaint from major media companies Rogers, Bell and TVA, the Court ordered several major ISPs to block access to domains and IP-addresses of the pirate IPTV service GoldTV. While the service in question has a relatively modest number of users, the order paves the way for additional site blocking requests that may target traditional pirate sites as well. This is exactly what major rightsholders have extensively lobbied for in the past. After a request for a national pirate site blocking scheme was denied last year, the media companies have now accomplished this goal through the courts. Most Internet providers, which include Bell and Rogers as well, haven't objected to the request. However, there's one that's pushing back. According to TekSavvy, site blocking will do more harm than good and the company filed an official appeal yesterday. "We are very concerned about what the federal court's new site-blocking regime means for the open Internet as a whole," says Andy Kaplan-Myrth TekSavvy's vice-president of regulatory affairs. TekSavvy argues that the Federal Court reached the wrong conclusion and asked for the order to be set aside. One of the problems, according to the ISP, is that the Court heavily relied on a UK ruling, instead of merely following Canadian law. The ISP further highlights that it runs counter to Canada's Net Neutrality principles. "[The order] is based on foreign law, and it clearly violates Network Neutrality, without giving any serious consideration to that fundamental principle of communications law in Canada," Kaplan-Myrth tells TorrentFreak. "If it is allowed to stand, this site-blocking order will be just the first of many, undermining the open Internet to protect the profits and business models of a handful of powerful media conglomerates," he adds. TekSavvy is the only ISP to file an appeal but, outside court, there has been strong opposition from others. Canadian law professor Michael Geist, for example, has criticized the ruling, arguing that the Government should weigh in on such a crucial matter. "In reviewing the GoldTV ruling, it is obvious that site blocking raises so many issues that it requires a government policy decision, not a single judge making a myriad of policy calls," Geist noted. There also many people who see site blocking in a more positive light. Hugh Stephens, Executive Fellow at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, says that "copyright protection in Canada has taken a step forward." Meanwhile, the Federal Court's order has already resulted in the first blocks. Several people are reporting that their ISPs have started to roll out the restrictions already. This includes Rogers, Fido, Bell Aliant, and SaskTel. It's clear that rightsholders are pleased with the blocking ruling, so they are expected to fiercely defend it at the Federal Court of Appeal. Given the controversy around the site-blocking topic, it would be no surprise if other interested parties will have their say in court as well.  — A copy of TekSavvy's Notice of Appeal, filed at the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal, is available here (pdf). Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. ©2019 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company