Operation in Our Sites: Feds Arrest 19-Year-Old Streaming Site Admin. A man has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations agents in connection with streaming live sporting events over the Internet. The 19-year-old allegedly ran HQ-Streams.com and HQ-Streams.net, domains that were previously seized by ICE as part of Operation in Our Sites. In early February 2011, U.S. authorities began the third round of Operation in Our Sites, the process which takes allegedly copyright-infringing sites offline by taking possession of their domain names.
This wave of seizures, which took place with the Super Bowl just around the corner, netted 10 domains including Atdhe.net, ChannelSurfing.net, HQ-Streams.com, HQ-Streams.net, Firstrow.net, Ilemi.com, Ilemi.net, Iilemi.com, RojaDirecta.org and RojaDirecta.org. Now the individual behind two of the domains, HQ-Streams.com and HQ-Streams.net, has not only lost his domains but now potentially faces losing his freedom. U.S. ‘Pirate’ Admins Sweat As ICE Reveal Extradition Criteria. Last month it was revealed that the UK-based admin of TVShack.net is fighting an extradition request filed by the US government. The site's domain was seized as part of Operation in Our Sites but according to new comments from ICE, more individuals could now be sought by US authorities.
Cutting through jurisdictional issues, ICE say they only need to show one thing to seek extradition of an admin - that his or her 'pirate' site has a .COM or .NET domain. One of the very first domain names to be seized by US authorities as part of Operation in Our Sites was that of the very popular TVShack.net. It was seized in mid-2010, a move which triggered off dozens more seizures in the months that followed. Last month, however, it became clear that ICE and DHS had not simply forgotten about the site.
The seemingly global nature of Operation in Our Sites is causing a jurisdiction-bending headache for onlookers, one which is putting immense pressure on O’Dwyer himself. US anti-piracy body targets foreign website owners for extradition. British website owners could face extradition to the US on piracy charges even if their operation has no connection to America and does something which is most probably legal in the UK, the official leading US web anti-piracy efforts has told the Guardian. The US's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is targeting overseas websites it believes are breaking US copyrights whether or not their servers are based in America or there is another direct US link, said Erik Barnett, the agency's assistant deputy director.
As long as a website's address ends in .com or .net, if it is implicated in the spread of pirated US-made films, TV or other media it is a legitimate target to be closed down or targeted for prosecution, Barnett said. While these web addresses are traditionally seen as global, all their connections are routed through Verisign, an internet infrastructure company based in Virginia, which the agency believes is sufficient to seek a US prosecution. Feds Arrest Owner of Seized Sports Streaming Domain. In the past several months, U.S. authorities have seized several domain names that were allegedly facilitating copyright infringement, and yesterday U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the first arrest. The 32-year-old Texan Bryan McCarthy was arrested and has been charged with criminal copyright infringement. Meanwhile, the site associated with these criminal charges remains active. Last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized several domains belonging to major sports streaming sites.
The seizures were timed just a few days before the Super Bowl, and came as a shock to their respective owners. One of the affected domain names was Channelsurfing.net, a website where links to external sports streams were listed. The ChannelSurfing owner didn’t see much harm in what he did, and viewed the domain seizure as illegitimate, as did many others. HSI agents arrest website operator that illegally streamed copyrighted sporting events. March 3, 2011 New York, NY HSI agents arrest website operator that illegally streamed copyrighted sporting events NEW YORK - The operator of a website that illegally streamed live, copyrighted sporting events on the Internet was arrested this morning by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Bryan McCarthy, 32, of Deer Park, Texas, was taken into custody at his home and is charged with one count of criminal infringement of a copyright.
He was the operator of channelsurfing.net, which was seized by federal authorities on Feb. 1, 2011, as part of an ongoing HSI investigation into websites that illegally streamed copyrighted sporting telecasts and pay-per-view events. The investigation into McCarthy revealed that he made more than $90,000 in profits from online merchants who paid him to advertise on the website. If convicted on the charge of criminal infringement of a copyright, McCarthy faces a maximum of five years in prison. TVShack: The Human Cost of Extradition, a Mother’s Story. As part of Operation in Our Sites, in mid-2010 the US government seized the domain name of TVShack.net. The site was operated by 23-year-old UK-based student Richard O'Dwyer who is now subject to extradition proceedings.
Today his mother speaks out, detailing the trauma the family is going through and asking that people help Richard by signing a petition in the hope that he can face justice at home, not thousands of miles away across the Atlantic. As became clear during June, former TVShack.net operator Richard O’Dwyer is facing the fight of his life to stop his extradition to the United States for running a media linking site. Today we hand over TorrentFreak to Julia O’Dwyer, Richard’s mother. Even if you have no time to read the article right now, please skip to the end to sign the petition which urges Parliament to support Richard’s plea for UK justice.
The Human Cost of Extradition As part of Richard’s course he is learning to make websites.