Online Pirates Beware, Homeland Security Investigations Serious About Shutting Down Illegal Streams

The long arm of the law has shown it’s willingness to shut down illegal video streams by arresting Bryan McCarthy of Deer Park, Texas for illegally streaming copyrighted sporting telecasts and pay-per-view events on channelsurfing.net.
MMAFighting.com picked up on the story on Thursday evening, which was published in an official ICE (U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement) […]

Pirate FlagThe long arm of the law has shown it’s willingness to shut down illegal video streams by arresting Bryan McCarthy of Deer Park, Texas for illegally streaming copyrighted sporting telecasts and pay-per-view events on channelsurfing.net.

MMAFighting.com picked up on the story on Thursday evening, which was published in an official ICE (U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement) news release earlier in the day.

The website channelsurfing.net, featured pirated telecasts for sporting events from the the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

During the investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, they determined that McCarthy had earned $90,000 in profits from advertisers while streaming copyrighted events since the site was first registered in December 2005. Since the website was seized on Feb. 1st, along with 9 other webistes (ATDHE.NET, CHANNELSURFING.NET, HQ-STREAMS.COM, HQSTREAMS.NET, FIRSTROW.NET, ILEMI.COM, IILEMI.COM, IILEMII.COM, ROJADIRECTA.ORG and ROJADIRECTA.COM) it has received 1.3 million visits since that time.

“Today’s arrest is another step forward in the ongoing investigation by New York HSI Agents into copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property rights,” said James T. Hayes, special agent in charge of HSI in New York. “We will continue to investigate illegal streaming of programming on the Internet in an effort to preserve legitimate and creative business interests and deter others from engaging in online piracy.”

“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. “This arrest sends a clear message that this office, working with its partners at HSI, will vigorously protect valuable intellectual property rights through arrests and domain name seizures.”

McCarthy faces a maximum of five years if convicted on the charge of criminal infringement of a copyright.