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SurfTheChannel Owner Sentenced to Four Years in Jail

The owner of TV streaming links site SurfTheChannel was sentenced to four years jail-time at Newcastle Crown Court today. Anton Vickerman was previously found guilty of conspiracy to defraud for “facilitating” copyright infringement . The landmark case follows a sting operation by the MPAA, who partnered with the UK Federation Against Copyright Theft to obtain evidence against the site operator.

In 2010, SurfTheChannel.com was among the most-visited streaming link websites on the Internet. The site had more than 400,000 visitors a day who were mostly looking for popular TV-shows.

The website was a thorn in the side of the UK and US entertainment industries who went to extremes to bring the site down. Among other things, the MPAA and FACT hired an undercover agent to gain access to the defendants’ house under false pretenses.

The case eventually went to trial in May and today a judge at Newcastle Crown Court sentenced 38-year old site owner Anton Vickerman to four years imprisonment. Vickerman’s wife faced the same charges but was found not guilty in June.


SurfTheChannel

stc

Today’s sentencing marks the first time that the owner of a linking website has been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the entertainment industry.

A previous attempt at making the same charge stick against the owner of the OiNK BitTorrent tracker failed during 2010.

Although SurfTheChannel did not store any copyrighted material itself, the site did organize links to copyrighted streams on third-party sites. According to the prosecution, the website was making at least £35,000 a month.

The UK Pirate Party is deeply concerned by the sentencing.

“The way this issue was investigated, prosecuted and the resulting sentence are, deeply concerning, inappropriate and disproportionate given the activities that Anton Vickerman was engaged in. A four year prison sentence is twice the maximum that could have been handed down if Vickers had been charged with online copyright infringement,” party leader Loz Kaye says.

“As we have said before, this was not a case brought using copyright law. The interest groups involved couldn’t present a case of copyright infringement and decided to press for the use of the common law offence of “conspiracy to defraud”. This offence is incredibly controversial in English law as it criminalises conduct by two or more parties that would not be criminal when performed by an individual,” he added.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), the local anti-piracy group which played an essential role in the investigation, is delighted on the other hand.

“This case conclusively shows that running a website that deliberately sets out to direct users to illegal copies of films and TV shows will result in a criminal conviction and a long jail sentence,” FACT Director General Kieron Sharp says.

“The sentencing indicates the severity of the offenses committed and the sophistication of [Vickerman's] criminal enterprise and should send a very strong message to those running similar sites that they can be found, arrested and end up in prison.”

The MPAA previously noted that it would use the sentencing of Vickerman to support the extradition process of TVShack owner Richard O’Dwyer. While the two sites were indeed comparable, the crucial difference is that O’Dwyer is not charged with fraud but copyright infringement.

That said, the sentencing today definitely spells trouble for UK-based website owners who operate similar streaming sites.

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  • arr matey

    Who can deny the FACTs?

    • http://torrentfreak.com/ Rob8urcakes

       Unlike those in Newcastle Crown Court the facts appear to have been mislaid, misunderstood and misjudged.

      This decision is yet another travesty of so-called justice in the UK.  The CopyWrong Cartel cannot continue to be allowed to con the artists and the end-users any longer.

      The law is an ass, and it needs to be updated to 21st Century standards.  Filesharing for no cash, no profit and no other sneaky gain MUST be made lawful NOW.

      Write to your elected politician(s) and DEMAND reform of CopyWrong law, a right to fileshare freely without penalty or harassment and introduce a State Award for those individuals who share the most.

      • Guest321

        When will the revolution start? I am still waiting. Innocent people are being thrown in jail and we can do nothing but comment on TF, sad little world we live in.

        • JordanKratz

           Do everything you can to get the word out to your friends/fans of your Art.
          Explain to them why they should not support the MAFIAA in any way.
          Buy & Support only INDIE Art and your local Art Too.
          Tell your friends to tell their friends.
          Keep telling people and speak with your wallet !!!

        • fu

          Waiting for what, for someone else to do it for you?

          Lead the way, see what happens, then you’ll have answers.

        • Asashii

          he made profit from others work, NO innocent person there, what idiot uses a .COM domain for such activity these days anyway, i mean really !!!!!

        • Anyone

          @3226e5c680ebaf5ba7282a7542e3375b:disqus
          he made a profit from linking to other sites, just like Google or Bing or countless other sites

          this should in no way be illegal

        • Fuck Mafiaa

           The website was a thorn in the side of the UK and US entertainment industries who went to extremes to bring the site down. Among other things, the MPAA and FACT hired an undercover agent to gain access to the defendants’ house under false pretenses.

          The case eventually went to trial in May and today a judge at Newcastle Crown Court sentenced 38-year old site owner Anton Vickerman to four years imprisonment.

          Illegally obtained evidence = case should be throne out by that matter anone, never mind the fact that linking is not a crime as long as u don’t host contents…

          Although SurfTheChannel did not store any copyrighted material itself, the site did organize links to copyrighted streams on third-party sites. According to the prosecution, the website was making at least £35,000 a month.

          Money = illigal? The site was legal in home country but usa has to rule world as they show. 2 words: fuck you!

        • Anomymous

          revolution? saddly its not going start for some time. We the pirates (ppl who use these kind services) we dont have numbers yet(in right places, by that i am offcourse talking pirate bay political partys allround world getting major victorios on elections and making in to seats of power around world not just in usa in all countrys in world) maybe in next generation when current lawmakers and politicals are either all dead (due of old age) or retired(to make room for new ppl, yes some political ppl dont redire so they fall due of old age). Then when those go away and next generation starts well maybe we have numbers then… ofc mafia and other will try lobby it agaist well those ppl retire and yes die to old ages (nobody lives forever). So it can happen but it can still take like 10-20 years to happen,

      • Wal-Mart

         Another internet tough-guy calling for a revolution behind his keyboard. Fuck off lol.

        • MastrLnk

          Another internet tough guy calling out someone for wanting change. Fuck off

        • http://profile.yahoo.com/6QO6MSZT7EYQLUT4TCXAZSEHSY Cinnamint

          Another internet tough guy calling out an internet tough guy for calling out an internet tough guy calling out for change from behind a tough keyboard.

        • Internet Tough Guy

          Where do you live? I have a present for you.

        • Internet Tough Guy

          How about the nearest Walmart store fucking nigga?

    • Asashii

      Agreed, making money from others copyright material NOT COOL, sharing copyright material WAY COOL, dont profit from others work or PAY with money and/or jail time. Next topic !!!!

      • Guest

        he wasn’t sharing, he was linking. and he wasn’t making money from others copyright material, he was making money from the adverts that was advertising on the site,

        • itsaboutthemoney

          You say he wasn’t making money from copyrighted material yet the only reason anyone went to his site was to view copyrighted material… come on.

          Sharing is great making money from other peoples work isn’t. He has no sympathy from me.

        • Anyone

          @069c36c5654a2ab9ef47a64287643270:disqus
          someone has to provide the platform where we can share (at least for now)
          there are server costs to be paid, and if there is something left over after that he surely is entitled to that for the great service he provides

    • Guest

      The corporate parasites are really making the ropes that will hang them all soon.

  • Tixatiuser

    Holy Crap. He’s going to jail. I can’t believe they are getting away with this. Hopefully there can be some sort of appeal or something.

    • Anon

      “Although SurfTheChannel did not store any copyrighted material itself,”

      This should be the key to appeal.

      • Duke

         But he wasn’t charged with copyright infringement, but ‘conspiracy to defraud’, which is basically a dishonest agreement to maybe deprive someone of something they might have, or maybe injure a property right (such as copyright) they might have.

        It’s a very silly law, and the Law Commission (among others) called for it to be abolished years ago.

        • Guest

          How can making money from advertising be fraud. I guess the MPAA are now going to take everyone to court that makes money from the selling of advertising now?

        • Duke

           [Replying to guest]

          It’s not fraud. It’s “conspiracy to defraud” which is a separate thing to fraud (rather than a conspiracy to commit fraud, which is yet another thing).

          The key point is the “dishonest” part, which is a really vague and unhelpful test, which leaves the matter almost entirely in the hands of the jury.

      • Asashii

        To assist another in the commission of a crime by words or
        conduct.

        The person who aids and abets participates in the commission of a crime by
        performing some Overt Act or by giving advice or
        encouragement. He or she must share the criminal intent of the person who
        actually commits the crime, but it is not necessary for the aider and abettor to
        be physically present at the scene of the crime.

        An aider and abettor is a party to a crime and may be criminally liable as a
        principal, an Accessory before the fact, or an accessory
        after the fact.

        • Anyone

          too bad copyright infringement is not a crime, eh?

        • Guest

          To link is not assisting

    • Anon

       And they will continue to get away with it.

  • Ufeepjnu

    Good grief.

    50 years from now this whole “copyright witch hunt” will look as stupid as the holy inquisition.

    Keep doing your best to be remembered as the royal a-holes you are, mafiaa.

    • Anyone

      or as the McArthy era

    • MadAsASnake

       Already does look that stupid…

  • Duke

    Interestingly, if they’d charged him with actual online copyright infringement (which would have been much harder to prove) rather than conspiracy to defraud by “facilitating copyright infringement”, the most he would have faced was two years in prison.

    I really hope this case gets appealed at, if nothing else, the sentence is shredded. It’s ridiculous to have a greater punishment for facilitating or conspiring to do something than for actually doing it.

  • thenutman69321

    When I was 18 I broke into 3 different businesses and stole thousands of hard earned dollars from people and caused a decent amount of property damage.  I only got sentenced to 1/4 of the time he just got.  Ridiculous world we live in.

    • Al

      Duh… If you did that on the internet you would have gotten around 900 years.

      • lchaim

        over 9000, more like

    • chronoss chiron

      1st time robbery 16 months prison…canada
      put advertising and links to copyrighted stuff…4 years….
      in canada a appeal would be on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment

  • downunder

    whats it just a site with loads of links? the gov are surely stupid
    a site listing links to stuff should of be applauded and used by mpaa to take down the stuff as it appear.. now they got one less way to find out where the stuff exists .. lame

  • Dsadasads

    “This case conclusively shows that running a website that deliberately sets out to direct users to illegal copies of films and TV shows will result in a criminal conviction and a long jail sentence,”
    Flawless logic. Your website is linking to a 3rd party website outside of your control? Be careful, if the 3rd party website decides that it wants to show illegal TV shows you are going to jail.

    • Bob

       Except for the “deliberately” part, you’re quite right.

      It still doesn’t make this acceptable.

  • UkSlaveToAmericanAssholes

    The  Uk government is fucking despicable,  if any other government has
    the potential to be as corrupt as amerca’s government it’ll be americas
    number one bitch,  good old blighty.

    Mark my words,  the’ll be violence over ignoring the will of the
    people,  especially when civil liberties are concerned (corporations are
    not fucking citizens)………… i dont want it,  i sure as hell dont
    look forward to it,  but it seems our governments are to stupid to
    realize just what kind of affect these decissions are having on people
    who care about their rights and everyone else’……..it does not fill
    me with warm, fluffy, fuzzy feelings……. contrary to what some
    delusional, drunk with power,  individuals, may think

     

  • Dondilly

    I notice the FACT wonk tries to read more into the ruling than. Is there. One of the key factors to the case is the degree of profit and that the site was exclusively related to publishing stream links.

    Had those links been in one section of a forum discussing TV and movies, ie the site had other purposes, even with or without advertising or donations, the verdict may have been different. Yet this goon is trying to use this to threaten any link site,.

    • MadAsASnake

       Not all the links were infringing…

  • Pianogamer

    “Conspiracy (crime)

    In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future. ”

    I find this a little ironic as the site was specifically designed to not break the law.

    • MadAsASnake

       Conspiracy of one, I guess, as his wife was found not guilty… which simply makes it more laughable.

      • Anyone

        if there is an “army of one” I’m sure there can be a “conspiracy of one” ;)

  • http://twitter.com/PopeTackler Rob

    I guess I’m the only one that isn’t as shocked or appalled by this ruling. The guy knowingly linked to copyrighted material, pure and simple. What did everyone expect was going to happen?

    When someone runs a website on which OTHER PEOPLE share copyrighted material in the form of torrents, or upload copyrighted material to be shared a’la Megaupload, then the owner of the website has the power to remove those torrents or files if the “owners” wish them to be removed. Then we have the right to be appalled, because had the owners wished, the content would have been removed and it clears the owner of any wrong-doings in the eyes of common people. It should also clear the owner of that site in the eye of the law, but that’s not the case right now and that is why people should be outraged.

    In this case it was the owner of the website who purposively linked to copyrighted material. He willfully broke the law.

    And everyone in the comments talking about rights, give me a fucking break. You don’t have the right to steal something that someone else has ownership of, be that the MPAA or RIAA speaking for the artists, or the artists themselves. What you people are talking about is anarchy and childish fantasies. What needs to happen is a better way of distributing media that people make so they can reach a wider audience in an affordable way.

    As pirates, we know full well that what we do illegal and we have to bear the consequences when they come. All this talk of rights and other nonsense makes me think you people actually believe your own bullshit about being innocent.

    (This is not directed at Torrentfreak. Keep up the good work guys; this news is important to know.)

    • Guest

       linking is not stealing.

      • Bonjour

        >Linking is not stealing.

        Correct, however, if you re-read the comment you’ll see he didn’t claim linking was stealing.

        ” You don’t have the right to steal something that someone else has
        ownership of, be that the MPAA or RIAA speaking for the artists, or the
        artists themselves.”

        In short, he says someone hasn’t got the right to have control over someone elses copyrighted file (eg; not removing the links on DMCA takedown). He didn’t own the rights to the links/files but he continued linking to it anyway.

        I’m not backing either of you up, I just wanted to point out that you may have misunderstood what he said regarding ‘linking is not stealing’.

        • chronoss chiron

          but you do have the right to visit a link …its called democracy and if yu then infringe thats YOUR problem

          on you logic we need ot arrest all gun owners in the usa

        • Guest

          But he is not having control over someone else copyrighted file. He is just linking.

        • Guest

          I was perfectly right in what i said with regards that linking is not stealing!

    • MadAsASnake

      Sorry? What law did he purposely break? To commit a copyright violation, you actually have to deal in the copyrighted work. So it’s not copyright. The charge was “Conspiring to Defraud”, whatever that means. Next it will be links to sites that link to sites… I don’t suppose FACT did anything to show damages except quote a large and unproveable number now did they? You know, bearing false witness is actually a more serious crime…

      • WTF

        It’s very simple …

        Conspiracy to defraud is a common law offence. The
        abolition of the common law offence of conspiracy in the Criminal Law Act 1977
        does not affect the offence of conspiracy to defraud. 

        The offence of conspiracy to defraud requires that two
        or more individuals dishonestly conspire to commit a fraud against a victim. The
        offence is extremely wide. It is sufficient for the fraudsters to know that the
        result of their actions will necessarily result in the defrauding of the
        victims. The fraudsters do not have to intend to defraud the victim as the
        primary purpose of the conduct. The offence does not require deception or an
        intent to cause financial loss. 

        Acts which may be non-criminal, for example a tort, may
        become criminal where a conspiracy to defraud exists. In other words an act can
        be carried out by one Defendant independently and this act would not amount to a
        criminal offence. Conversely the same act carried out by two persons may
        constitute an offence of conspiracy to defraud. 

        Conspiracy to defraud requires an element of
        dishonesty. However the current definition of dishonesty means that activities
        which may not normally be a criminal offence may be found to be fraudulent if a
        jury finds them to be dishonest. Consequently prosecutors have an extremely wide
        discretion as to whether to commence criminal proceedings for conspiracy to
        defraud and this can potentially result in unfair prosecutions. 

        Under the Home Office Consultation paper referred to
        above, the offence of conspiracy to defraud would be abolished in favour of the
        two general fraud offences. 

        WTF????

        • MadAsASnake

           He is one person, not two…

        • http://twitter.com/ArmEagle ArmEagle

           Ok, so you say you need two people conspiring. I guess that’s why they brought in his wife too. But she was declared unguilty/dropped case. That leaves just him doing something by himself. How is that still a conspiracy?

          Note that I did not read into the case at all. Maybe there are other defendants? As usual they point to the amount of money the website made. But the only source seems to be the plaintiff. And I just don’t trust those numbers that easily then.

    • Eddy

      There is no crime in the Uk for linking to copyrighted material.
      In the UK this is NOT illegal.

      Conspiracy to defraud IS illegal.

      Its a subtle difference but it is different.

      • MadAsASnake

        What conspiracy? That would need 2 or more…
        What intention to defraud? Who lost?

        • Duke

          Conspiracy to defraud is a weird one, as the prosecution don’t really have to do anything with the person they’re alleging the defendant conspired with. In this case, I guess they could argue he was conspiring with the site’s other operators (one of whom was a key prosecution witness), with the site’s advertisers, payment providers or users.

          There’s no need for an intention. It just needs a dishonest agreement to do something that might cause someone else a loss (including stopping them from making a gain). You don’t have to cause the loss. You don’t have to intend to cause the loss. The actions you perform don’t have to be illegal or unlawful themselves.

          It’s a silly law.

    • Me2

       And everyone in the comments talking about rights, give me a fucking
      break. You don’t have the right to steal something that someone else has
      ownership of, be that the MPAA or RIAA speaking for the artists, or the
      artists themselves. What you people are talking about is anarchy and
      childish fantasies

      If I buy something it becomes mine I’m afraid, if I want to share it with my friends(or the entire world) I will so Tough Shit. And anyone that shares it with me I wont be calling thieves, the problem here is that NO-ONE IS STEALING

    • OccamsKatana

      I think you’re missing the point. Pirates are pushing to make it NOT illegal. To have that clarified the world over. The it’s LEGAL to share. Who makes it illegal to share? If you believe it’s illegal, then you’re breaking the law. When the laws are made to subject innocent people to the whims of large corporations, standing up for your rights is what gets the laws changed.

  • Anonymous

    welcome to The People’s Republic of UK. i still dont understand how he could be charged with fraud. what more heinous crimes are there that are now punished so much less than file sharing? i never thought i would see the day when corruption would reach into the United Kingdom ‘Justice System’ and Government to such a sorry extent. it makes me feel ashamed!

    • Techanon

      It’s not “fraud” but “conspiracy to defraud”, wich is one of the weirdest laws I’ve read about.
      Plaintiffs only need to prove that you’re asocciated with a third party and claim that the result of that association either caused a loss or prevented a gain for the plaintiffs, then a “miller test for dishonesty” and that’s it.

  • downunder

    its still stupid regardless what you say.. google also links to streaming content.. and other engines. some streams are illegal as well
    he just made it easier to find it then using engines by the sounds

    still the UK taxpayers who pay for it.. 4 years x 100K to house a immate.. half a million prob..

    he prob end up home detention though.. but atleast its nice warm cell
    in winter and 3 hot meails..

    so whos winning? lol it a joke

    • Mwhahaha

      well 400K. With parole, probably closer to 250K, all of which goes to pay people. It doesn’t vanish into the ether. Those people then go and buy bread and shirts and DVDs with the money they earn.

      But I do agree with your basic point, we could be spending 250K on wages to people who do much more productive things than keep an eye on cheeky boys.

  • Mwhahaha

    Jail time for this kind of crime is pretty daft. Now we’re paying for his food, shelter and guards.
    If you have to care enough to find him guilty, fine the shit out of him and forbid him from doing something similar. 

    They made a right meal of it.

  • MadAsASnake

    I’d say an appeal is pretty likely. 

  • Maigret

    In Holland you have to commit murder for such a sentence. You can see who in the US are calling the shots. 

    • JordanKratz

       Yes, unfortunately for us Citizens it is a Corporations are People Government.
      Hope there is a Revolution someday as I can think of many a Rich Prick who will fall hard to the ground.

    • Guest

       ”When choosing between movies and people, I always choose movies, because that’s what pays my political campaigns”

      -Government of the United States, 2012, when asked about freedom and fair trial.

  • AA

    Four years? You can rape someone and get less. Hell, you can get less for manslaughter. 

  • guest

    The most digusting thing is the fact that this guys life is ruined for doing something that is not intuitively illegal. Taking away the profits and shutting the site down is surely punishing enough.

    He mentions about the loss in tax revenue, I would say if anything they made more tax off the money he was making than what people would ACTUALLY buy and watch if it wasn’t free. Not to mention any employees or the money that was made by the advertising companies that gained custom by people buying products from the ads on their site? shouldn’t they be prosecuted too? they made money from this ordeal as well.

    Plenty of other sites contain links to illegal content, google anyone?

    Coming back to intuitively illegal, the sentencing for this is extremely harsh as its very difficult to measure the actual damage of the crime, fair enough I’m sure he knew it was wrong. But its unfair that he should know the ins and outs of a vague law that applies to many things not just his business. Like I said its impossible to know how many of the people viewing or downloading the illegal content would of purchased it if it had not have been avaliable. And with the amount of shit that comes out of Hollywood nowadays I doubt there would of been many.

    • MadAsASnake

      Pretty sure FACT didn’t give any credible figures for loss.

      • Duke

         According to the Independent,  the prosecution “said that it was impossible to calculate the losses it caused the film industry.”

        Of course, that didn’t stop them from saying it was in the tens of millions of pounds, but…

        Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/surfthechannelcoms-anton-vickerman-jailed-over-internet-piracy-8046581.html

        • Guest

          I guess everyone who has a DVD/VCR recorder is going to be facing a conspire to defraud the entertainment industry because recording a film/TV program and then watching it again and again is depriving the entertainment industry from money.

  • Anonymous

    i wonder what sort of punishment will be handed out to those being prosecuted after their involvement in the ‘phone hacking’ scandal? i bet any money you like, all they will get is a telling off or a minimum amount in fines. consider the harm that they have done and the number of people that have been harmed in relation to what this guy has done. then add the number of artists that have been defrauded by the very people that have taken him to court (and i bet lied through their teeth, presenting no real evidence of harm) and all the other people that have been accused of file sharing, and see where the most damage comes from. the result will be worth watching for and will almost certainly indicate the extent of corruption in the government and courts!

    • http://twitter.com/Genevajia Genevajia

      ….
      goo.gl/A3KkY

  • http://twitter.com/Genevajia Genevajia

     Ronald said I’m stunned that a mother can earn $9889 in 1 month on the network. have you seen this(Click on menu Home)

  • Anon

    Have great memories of this site, altough this was expected sooner or late.

    Off Topic: Is Pirate Bay down for someone else or is it just me?

    • Demonoid2012

      It’s down for everybody.

      • jntlesnev5o7zysa

        works fine here

      • TPB

        “Upgrading software, please check back in some minutes.”

  • Vincent Giannell

    Someone should tell the court that this sentence is unfair, unlawful, and illegal and must be appealed at once.

  • http://twitter.com/PensionForLife PensionForLife

    The website owner was making at least £35,000 a month.Well thats taking the piss, IMO
    If you make a movie site or tv site you put ads up to pay for the website costs not to make a profit…

    • Guest

      Can the prosecution actually prove that he was making £35,000 a month. Or is it some figure that they pulled out at random or maybe Vickerman bragged/exagerated that he was making this much money?

      • Water is cool

        Yes, they can prove it.

        Surftheinternet was using ads located in the USA – aka, they can get the stats on the ad money to prove their arguement. I cannot provide any links to it because it’s private but they do have the stats.

        Also, as we cannot view the stats, how to prove this theory? Well, by doing some typical mathimatics … we know by this article that he had “400,000 visitors a day”, you cannot deny this is most likely true (as it was a very popular site). So, ads typically give CPM/CPC which atleast generate £0.40 per 1000.
        The maths; 400000 / 1000 * 0.4 = £160 … 160 * 30 = £4,800 which is $7,529 per month.

        Now, although it’s not as high as they said, it said “visitors” not page views, so if I’m right in thinking this is per unique visit (400,000 unique visitors) then they view the page atleast 4 times when on the website, that means he’d be generating $30,117 which is what they claim he made.

        —-

        Irrelevant but worth adding to the comment;

        I’d like to add which TF didn’t mention (copied below from another sites article);
        “They had found that he was running Surfthechannel through a limited
        company, called Scopelight, which was claimed to be generating £300,000 a
        year. ”
        and
        “The profits were being transfered to a bank account in Latvia operated
        by an offshore company based in Dominica, according to Fact and the
        MPAA.”

        • Water is cool

          Oops, I’d like to say;  “$30,117 which is what they claim he made.” is incorrect, I forgot it was GBP not USD … but anyway, the average person may view the pages atleast 8 times in total.

          But either way, there is no denying that he profited a nice sum of money from the site.

  • Guest

    Intentionally linking to copyrighted content and generating money is a crime here now? Say goodbye to the admin of TVSHACK because hes going STATESIDE!

  • Ches. Gen.

    It always depends on who’s interpreting “the law”.
    For me, a copy is a copy. Hell, the self-entitled “owners” made the copies in the first place. It’s not as if they sold me the god-damned unique Mona Lisa.
    They did not sell me the one and only original final version of a song or of a movie.
    There is no stipulation that I am the sole beneficiary of the art product. I can not enjoy the product I paid for and brag I am the only one.

    They gave me a copy. Which, in the internet world, has no material weight.
    If anything, they should sue themselves for asking multiple payments for a single product.

  • foff

    I hate this crap because conspiracy to defraud in my opinion does not fit the crime if there even is one.  Funny I can stream a show but it is the guy who hosts my link that does the jail time. Fucking twisted justice in my opinion.  The pirate bay is down, could not reach it by proxy either.  It seems whatever force took down demoniod now has its sites set on the pirate bay.

    • Guest321

      All hell has broken loose ever since Megaupload was taken down.

      • Guest

        Megaupload and Megabox will be coming this year tweeted Kim Dotcom the other day.

    • http://twitter.com/ArmEagle ArmEagle

       TPB is just very, very slow.

      • jntlesnev5o7zysa

        Tor onion runs fine.

    • Anonymous

      my fears exactly. funny how to DDoS a website is illegal except when it’s done by or on behalf of the entertainment industries, isn’t it? i would have thought that either it was illegal or it wasn’t. but then, when it suits to change the law or the rules, that is what happens. the Internet is basically ruined because there are now too many governments and too many businesses that are trying to control it. it should have been left alone and then businesses would have been forced to adapt. as it is, those businesses have bribed governments to do the dirty work so as to maintain decades old ideas instead of forcing innovation and new practices.

  • Demonoid2012

    When the hell did linking to sites become illegal? This shit is getting out of hand. Freedom of speech is going down here, and we need to do something about it.

    • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

      You don’t have the right to contribute to copyright infringement. I am fine with making it illegal to link to copyrighted material. It’s illegal to link to CP, so why not copyrighted material? They both are illegal. close all loopholes.

      • Anyone

        copyrighted material is not illegal

      • Guest

        It is not illegal to link to copyright as ruled by a judge in the US.

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Virtual child porn is also not illegal as ruled by the Supreme Court in 2002 and the Ohio Supreme Court in 2008, yet as of now it is still sitting in a legal grey area. so what is your point? Anyway, I never said linking to it is illegal. I said I am FINE WITH MAKING IT ILLEGAL.

        • Guest

           @Akemi_Mokoto:disqus Like I said linking is not illegal

      • john

        The point is that you’re comparing apples with oranges.

        The very production, existence and distribution of CP is rightly illegal. That has nothing whatsoever to do with copyright laws that prohibit the sharing of copyrighted works.

      • Demonoid2012

        So, with that logic, you must want Google, Yahoo, and other major search engines to close down, too. I’m also guessing, by your logic, you would have a problem with people posting links to purchase blank cd’s/dvd’s, or anything that can be used to copy something.

        • Anyone

          shut down Hitachi, Western Digital and Samsung!
          without harddisks noone can pirate anything anymore!
          problem solved!

      • http://profiles.google.com/zerianis10 Christopher Kidwell

        Akemi, sorry but no it isn’t sitting in a ‘legal grey area’. I collect lolicon porn and have shown it to the cops the one time they came to my doorstep.

        They said it was legal by that ruling and they were not interested in that at all, they had reports that I was actually trading ACTUAL child porn. I was shocked because I stayed and still do stay away from that like it’s the plague.

        Found out later when I called the cops in question (they gave me their names) to check up on it that the guy who threw my name out? Was arrested for knowingly giving false testimony.

        • Not “Necessarily”!

          You’re right that it’s clearly legal (not a “grey area” at all).  However, I would still suggest using the free TrueCrypt program to do full-disk encryption on all your data disks.  Many people (computer repair technicians, guests who use your computer, etc.) do not know what the law says and they can wrongly cause unwanted visits from the police, etc., so it’s easier to just avoid the problem.

      • Fepyowlz

         I LOLed so bad at the “NOTHING is above the law” remark.

        Only goverments and corporations.
        You are a true fool for not realizing this world known fact.
        Citizens mean shit and are only there to pay taxes and recieve crap services in return.

        And off topic:
        Did you start to work with the mafiaa and support their crap views recently?
        It shows.

  • foff

    Come on torrent freak fucking report on the pirate bay

    • foff

      I get the message upgrading software so it seems this is just a maintenance time out.

  • Vincent Giannell

    There should be a petition to convince the court to appeal this guy’s sentences.

  • jntlesnev5o7zysa

    They’re just upset because they’re losing.  They’re getting desperate now, having to resort to ever more extreme punishments in an effort to have their way.

    They will still lose.

    • Guest

      They wont stop until everyone is in jail and then they still will not be happy.

  • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

    This kind of thing needs to be done more often. No more taking down sites and leaving it at that. Legal action is needed!

    • Guest

      People will just share offline and we all know from the leaked MPAA report that more piracy occurs offline that it does online. Good luck with stopping piracy lol

      • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

        So far, we are making progress. Megaupload is gone and that was the biggest of all illegal sites. More will follow. Sooner or later, illegal uploads will go the way of Child Porn and dammit, I can’t wait.

        • MadAsASnake

           Wow – what a delusional world you live in.

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          You going to say something intelligent or just keep that low level reply?

        • Guest

          Like i said “we all know from the leaked MPAA report that the more piracy occurs offline that it does online” The more you shut sites etc. the more people will share offline so all it does in shutting down sites is increase piracy offline. So, how does shutting down sites make progress in combating piracy when all you do is increase piracy offline???

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Well lets see: If you are sharing online, you have a MUCH LARGER audience. Millions of downloads for one file. If you are sharing offline, you aren’t like to get millions of people coming to you wanting the latest song from YUI or new episode of Southland. Just because something “happens offline more often than online” that does not mean they should stop targeting online sites.

          In reality if the war on piracy was a waste of time, they would have given up long ago. Piracy can’t be stopped but is can be severely damaged and limited just like CP, Terrorist websites, and so on.

        • Guest

          Megaupload and Megabox will be coming soon as per tweeted by Kim Dotcom on Twitter the otherday. I guess the entertainment business are going to shit themselves when they both launch lol

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Megaupload is dead and MegaBox will follow behind it. Don’t think websites are immune to the law just because they are online. NOTHING is above the law.

        • Asashii

          wait until they cannot afford to make music, films, games, etc. and then there will be nothing to pirate !!!!!

        • Stander

           Ask the MAFIAA how much money they make. Are they doing ok? Yes, I think so.

          You are a shill, because no one could be that ignaorant. I hope they are paying you a lot to post your nonsense, troll.

        • Water is cool

          Dude, I welcome the oposite opinions but you’re borderline trolling by commenting with things which you know will upset a lot of people. eg; “Enjoy prison, you criminal! :D”, that’s just gunna piss people off.

          Anyway, MU wasn’t illegal, I miss MU, it was the only file-host which was fast and awsome – i lost my backups cus it closed :( but now i’ve moved to dropbox, but still haven’t recovered my old backups.

          However, Kim – he is a douchebag but I have to support him or file sharing sites could suffer the same fate as him. He needs to win this – even though he is a greedy nodface who is a trator to the pirate community (yet everyone forgave his past history of selling copyrighted content and backstabbing his community by  famously turning everyone in to the police when they caught him and cut him a deal).For those who don’t know his history and decide to stick up for him in a response to my comment – flipping research what he did during the 1990s.

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          No, you obviously don’t like other views. I don’t give a shit if my views piss someone off. I speak my mind and you and many others hate that so you resort to using the word “troll” which is just as misused as the word “racist”. If you think I am trolling, search my Tweets made on the day Megaupload was taken down. My views have not changed. I speak my mind. I don’t troll. If I wanted to troll, I would have gone completely off topic and started bashing Anonymous just to piss people off. But I didn’t I stayed on topic. Still am.

          If you read the court papers, you’d know Megaupload was illegal. Hell, if you were an attorney or lawyer you would know it was illegal. If you used one website to backup all your crap, that was a bad idea(I’m one to talk) but it does not make me feel any less happy that Megaupload was taken down. The courts already ruled that which allowed the US to get help from NZ to take him and his staff down. That’s also why some of his staff ran and at last check, are still on the run.

          I don’t know why would you call Kim a douche. He had a LOVELY home and a pretty nice carefree life that I would have loved to have.

          All and all websites like Pirate Bay also need to go down because it is VERY clear that site is primarily used for PIRATING(hence the name) and I will support such take downs and even aid in it.

        • Something For Everyone

          Haha, you’ve been saying that since Napster.

          Also, “go the way of Child Porn”?  Well, if by that you mean push people towards using methods that cannot be controlled nor monitored, then I guess you’re about right on that part.  I can’t wait, either. :D

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          And you can enjoy your 8 by 12 room when you are taken down with other illegal websites. I’ll be sure to “snitch” if I find such things. ic3.gov loves my reports :D 

        • Guest

          Megaupload and Megabox WILL be launched shortly, Watch this space.

        • ScrewEwe2

          Are your posts here going to be a part of your catalogue of journalism towards winning that Pulitzer Prize? Is this what yellow journalism is? I’ve heard the term but never understood what it meant.

          TYIA

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Completely off topic. try and stay on topic, if you have anything constructive to say anyway. Your words have no effect only due to the fact that I could take what you know about Journalism and shove it down
          an ants throat and it would rattle around like a BB in a Boxcar.

        • Guest

          “If you read the court papers, you’d know Megaupload was illegal.”

          Illegal? It has NOT been proved in a court of law that Megaupload was Illegal, The court papers were filed in the US and Megaupload is a company that was NOT on US soil and does NOT come under US jurisdiction. The only thing so far to have been shown and proved to be Illegal in this whole case is that the police raids, taking away of computes and transfering of data to the US has been ruled Illegal according to the NZ judge.

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Actually thanks to several international copyright laws, yes. the US does have the legal jurisdiction to do what they did. And it has been proved that MU was illegal. If it wasn’t proven, the police in NZ would have had no reason to launch that spectacular raid on Kim’s home and the case would have been thrown out months ago. I think you need to read up on your law my friend, lol.

        • ScrewEwe2

          Is Akemi a male or female name? Are you a snitch wiff a snatch? Inquiring mimes want to know.

        • Guest

          No, the US does not have the legal jurisdiction to do what it wanted in this case. It hasn’t been proved that Megaupload is Illegal. As for the spectacular raid on Kims home, well my friend it has been ruled ILLEGAL by the NZ judge lol. As for evidence in this case it is so easy to trawl through 20 million emails and select sentences to show that the company acted in the wrong. If you actually see the cut sentences showing the sentences before and after the cut sentence could well make the cut sentence look totally innocent. In order words the FBI have made the classic cartoon snow white and the 7 dwarfs out to be a sick girzzly horror film from cutting out the parts to make their case with it being a sick grizzly horror film but if you see whole film and without anything cut out from the FBI you will see that it is not a horror film.

        • ScrewEwe2

          “And you can enjoy your 8 by 12 room when you are taken down with other illegal websites. I’ll be sure to “snitch” if I find such things….”

          An 8 x 12 room would be great. I’m living in a 3 foot by 3 foot cardboard box with no air conditioning or bathroom facility’s and the cardboard roof leaks a little when it rains, but hey, it’s a home. Please don’t snitch me out for vagrancy.

        • ScrewEwe2

          Akemi you egotistical little fuck, if your country had not bombed Pearl Harbor Ist, my country would not have dropped the 2 Nuclear Bombs on Japan. And the Japanese soldiers in WW2 were barbaric as hell in their treatment of the Korean and Chinese people and allied prisoners of war.

          Peace Out Snitch Bitch

        • http://akemi-mokoto.me/ Akemi Mokoto

          Completely off topic but since you said something so stupid, I must reply: http://akemi-mokoto.me/2012/08/05/wwii/ Terrorism by America or anybody is not justified.

        • MadAsASnake

           I really don’t need to say much – your comments are sufficiently unhinged that I don’t need to. Now:
          Child Pr0n, Terrorism, Rape, Murder all have severe and destructive impact on members of our society at a very fundamental level. Compared to this, filesharing is jaywalking stuff.
          I would far prefer our police, judicial resources and jails to be applied to the former, rather than the latter. Quite frankly, if the media companies wanted to reduce filesharing, they could do so easily – all they need to do is provide the services that the average user actually wants.
          As for Megaupload – no the US does NOT have jurisdiction in NZ. They can’t even serve either the company or DotCom. The raid has been found illegal in NZ under NZ law. It’s a poster child for the excesses in the current situation, and it is dangerous. Why? Because this sort of behaviour (and the constant push for ever more invasive and overarching copyright law) simply invalidate the legitimacy of our collective laws. Now I have no problem with ineffectual copyright law being ignored, but it sets a precedent for disrespect of law more generally. This is what you are celebrating. You are an idiot.

        • tremor

          The Hydra can not be killed. Cut off one head, two more grow back. Unlike trolls, trolls are very easy to kill. Your days may be numbered.

        • Sputumous Munfulch

          @Akemi_Mokoto:disqus  Megaupload wasn’t illegal. It cooperated with takedown requests in full compliance with the DMCA requirements, just as YouTube does.

          What was illegal was the warrantless raid on Kim Dotcom’s residence.

    • ScrewEwe2

      Akemi Mokoto-Loco. Just checked out your Blog site. “Akemi Mokoto’s Blog. Where nothing is black and white. It’s negro and cracker”. Sounds a wee bit racist son.

      • Mugwump20

         Did you read the part of his blog where he describes himself as “the sexiest man alive”?  Blegh…

  • Asashii

    nicked by the Filth HUH !!!!

    • Guest

      Grimebusters does wonders to clean up filth lol

  • ScrewEwe2

    Not sure, but I may have been 86′d from TF. Maybe time to fade to black.

  • OccamsKatana

    In the UK, do you have a slammer, slam, can, big house, pokey, penitentiary, pen, club fed, in the hole, county hotel/motel, correctional facility, lock-up, brig, cooler, the farm, clink, big house,  coop, hoosegow, block, gray bar motel, joint, behind bars? Or is he just doing time, imprisoned, locked up, incarcerated, detained, confined, sent up the river, free room and board at club fed, and on and on. But good catch there Danny.

    • Danny

      We don’t have many of those no. Is club fed a gay bar in Soho?

      The prison system in the UK is not big business like it is in the US though.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/6QO6MSZT7EYQLUT4TCXAZSEHSY Cinnamint

      @danwood76:disqus Yet. Don’t slap yourself on the back to hard.

  • Guest

    Prostituted politicians.
    Law doesn’t need to make sense when there’s money involved right?
      “conspiracy to defraud”
    Now I wonder, how much will they have to stretch “conspiracy to defraud” until it applies to everything else they can’t legally prosecute.

  • john

    “The MPAA previously noted that it would use the sentencing of Vickerman to support the extradition process of TVShack owner Richard O’Dwyer”
    How the fuck is that relevant in any way? The legality of sharing websites in the UK has no bearing on whether UK citizens should be shipped off to the US “for the lulz of it”. If he’s committed a crime in the UK then let him be tried there!

  • Luke Solis

    thats fucked up…. if I link a site, I don’t own that content… the linked site owns that content…

  • Anonymouse

    This is GR8 News Now if I Get Drunk run down and kill Kieron Sharp I will get a lesser sentence than being a pirate.

    Anyone got a bottle of scotch.

  • GUEST

    Putlocker is going to see itself shine in the lights of the MAFIAA wanting its head on the chopping board. They’re going to get mullered! 

    • foff

      I don’t put locker links in any of the sites that I visit.  So it must be  used by Germans or Europeans.  Put locker could die tomorrow and it would not affect my downloading choices

    • Guest

      isn’t putlocker on the list of “next to go” targets in the ifpi report?

  • Fanden

    What’s going on there?

  • Guest

    One of the goals of the entertainment industry is to have some sort of “official” compensation for each and every presentation of a work. This encompasses everyone and everything from the pre-teen kids having a sleepover to the incorporation of a blockbuster soundtrack becoming part of a motion picture and being displayed in world-premiere imax theater.

  • TWOK

    I’m from Newcastle and they like to give what is known as the short sharp shock treatment. In other words this guy is being used as a sign post to anyone else who wants to try this.

    Chances are though anyone else tried at the same court for the same thing wont get the same sentence.

    Both my brother and I were both arrested for car theft, we both went to the same court both in the same month for the same crime. He got 18 months in jail I got probation and community service.

    We also had the same lawyer. We both stole two different cars.

  • Monster

    Interesting..if this would have been a case in the US everybody on this site would be saying “fuck the US”  Not 1 Fuck the UK here!?  Says a lot people…

    4 years in prison is fucking disgusting!!

    FUCK THE UK!!

    • Guest

      We expect it bro.

  • Andrew

    I’m running a similar site, still not worried :)

  • teddie777

    what a country we live in

    Honestly the law/society we live in truly is messed up

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9474723/Convicted-paedophile-walks-free-because-prison-would-make-him-more-dangerous.html

    I honestly dont get it, paeso’s are one of the worst re-offenders in the world.

    Is 4 years (ok appeal good behaviour etc he might do 12 months then tag etc ?) ok for such a mundane charge ?

    CD’s DVD’s don’t cost anywhere near the price they use to, mp3′s are almost free to distribute (ok server fee, but no where near the cost of physical cd’setc).

    Also does the MAFIAA etc really believe stopping people freeloading will really make them pay for say “sky TV”, where you “PAY” to watch between 20 to 30% ( or around that amout) to watch advertisements  inbetween tv programmes ? whose the crooks ?

    bent society and law, Orwell was almost bang on the money, and anyone that thinks he was’t is deluded, no such thing as a “free society”.

    AND dont get me onto UK TAX RATES

  • http://twitter.com/krozareq krozareq

    Fuck the UK. 

  • Anonymous

    So this guy gets locked in jail for this?
    Meanwhile, I can go on Youtube and watch full episodes and movies (and listen to full albums) and nothing is done to them. 
    I just don’t get this.  I really just don’t understand this at all.

    • PatternGuru714

      YouTube and Google both now use media fingerprinting and either pay royalties on, or automatically notify copyright holders on audio and video content. The holders can choose whether to register with them and get paid for views, or to take down the content. This information is lacking in so many threads here. I’m not saying this guy deserved 4 years, but the “Youtube is illegal then” argument is invalid.

    • Mugwump20

       Its because Youtube aka Google can afford the Legal teams that would throw these cases out of court (where they belong) Sadly we no longer live in a democracy – you can buy the law in the UK and USA if you have enough financial clout.

  • xDarkAgentx

    overturned… watch.. and wait

  • robthom

    He let a stranger into his house?

    You’ve got two choices:
    You could live under the governments thumb, and be free of a certain type of paranoia.

    Or live free, and stay constantly on your guard against the enemies of freedom.

    If you’re going to do anything that the government doesn’t like, dont do it under your government name and double or triple firewall yourself against discovery.

    False ID’s, cash and prepaid debit cards.

  • Freddie

    I wonder what would have happened if he had linked to Google links?

  • Guest

    Surely linking is open to freedom of speech? I know where something is, I am entitled to say. It’s up to the listener what they do with that information. We shouldn’t be held liable for other peoples actions when all that has happened is a passing of information.

  • Madbasturd

    I for one am so glad we live in a time and age where you can do more jail time for copyright infringement than killing a person..  seems the human race has its priorities straight finally.. putting money before life..  

    The sooner the world burns and mother nature takes it over again the better.. 

  • Byte Master

    Wouldn’t it be awesome for Vickerman to come out of jail, to find his country being ruled by a coalition of UKIP and Pirate Party UK?

  • girfuy

    4 yr for copyright breach,ffs you get less time for kicking the shite out of a nobody,its all wrong in u.k

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  • Guest

    Yes we do, it’s an alternative to gaol as in  ’The Ballads of Reading Gaol’ by Wilde, who definitely went to prison in the UK
    ——
    4 years is an insane sentence for this crime, you genuinely get less prison time for helping to murder someone.  Stupid legal system

  • fangbin818

    tinyurl.com/cyk9xz2

  • baofu422

    tinyurl.com/cyk9xz2

  • shengcai948

    tinyurl.com/cyk9xz2

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

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