• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

US Cracks Down On Download Sites In Midst Of Anti-Piracy Debate

21/01/2012 by William New, Intellectual Property Watch 4 Comments

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

In the midst of the global flare-up over draft anti-piracy legislation in the US Congress this week, several heavy-hitting actions were taken in the United States against websites said to be supporting unauthorised content.

Today, the Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that Matthew David Howard Smith, 24, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was sentenced today in Alexandria, Virginia, to 14 months in prison “for his role in founding NinjaVideo.net, a website that provided millions of users with the ability to illegally download high-quality copies of copyright-protected movies and television programs.”

At sentencing, US District Judge Anthony J. Trenga also ordered Smith to serve two years of supervised release following his prison term, to pay $172,387 and to forfeit to the US five financial accounts and various computer equipment involved in the crimes, the Justice Department said. Smith pleaded guilty on 23 September 2011 to conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement.

On 9 September Smith was indicted along with four of the other top administrators of NinjaVideo.net. Co-defendant Hana Amal Beshara was sentenced on 6 January to 22 months in prison and ordered to repay nearly $210,000. Two other defendants await sentencing.

The Justice Department also made a high-profile announcement yesterday that in one of the largest copyright cases ever it is charging seven people and two corporations with “running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works, through Megaupload.com and other related sites.”

The websites generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and caused more than $500 million in harm to copyright owners, the Justice Department and FBI announced. The action “directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime,” Justice said.

According to Justice, Megaupload.com is advertised as having more than one billion visits to the site, more than 150 million registered users, 50 million daily visitors, and accounting for four percent of the total traffic on the internet.

“The individuals and two corporations – Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited – were indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on Jan. 5, 2012, and charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement,” Justice said. “The individuals each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering, five years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and five years in prison on each of the substantive charges of criminal copyright infringement.”

The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise is led by Kim Dotcom, aka Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, 37, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand.

The move against Megaupload was bold for the Obama administration as the website had many supporters among top performers and musicians, in addition to its large user base. The action was praised by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America. RIAA said it was “deeply grateful.”

But the action triggered takedowns of the Justice Department, MPAA and RIAA websites by Anonymous in response, according to reports.

On 18 January, millions of people participated in a massive online protest against anti-piracy legislation in the US Congress, leading to postponements of action on the bills in both House and Senate (IPW, US Policy, 20 January 2012).

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.

Creative Commons License"US Cracks Down On Download Sites In Midst Of Anti-Piracy Debate" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, Access to Knowledge/ Education, Copyright Policy, Enforcement, English, IP Law, North America

Comments

  1. Jan Goossenaerts says

    23/01/2012 at 9:56 am

    If ICE apply these legal instruments already, why is SOPA/PIPA still needed?
    I guess for sites in countries with which the US has no extradition agreements, yet many of those countries are already member of WTO or WCO.
    Perhaps the WTO / World Customs Org. would be a suitable forum to see what else can be done? Rather than putting at risk the benefits of an open internet (to cite EU Commissioner Kroes).

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Twist of the Wrist PDF - Page 2 - Honda CBR250R Forum : Honda CBR 250 Forums says:
    20/05/2012 at 4:12 pm

    […] your melon up your posterior: US ISPs become 'copyright cops' starting July 12 | Fox News US Cracks Down On Download Sites In Midst Of Anti-Piracy Debate | Intellectual Property Watch U.S. Government Cracking Down on Internet Piracy Got a Copyright Infringement Notice From ISP? […]

    Reply
  2. SOPA, Piracy, Pharmaceuticals May Dominate US IP Policy Discussions In 2012 | Intellectual Property Watch says:
    30/12/2012 at 6:07 pm

    […] Related: US Cracks Down On Download Sites In Midst Of Anti-Piracy Debate […]

    Reply
  3. Most-Read IP-Watch Stories Of 2012: India Pharma, Europe, ACTA, WIPO Technical Assistance, Gene Patents says:
    20/04/2015 at 10:15 pm

    […] US Cracks Down On Download Sites In Midst Of Anti-Piracy Debate http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/01/21/us-cracks-down-on-download-sites-in-midst-of-anti-piracy-debate/ […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.