TorrentFreak

A second administrator of NinjaVideo, one of the first targets of the US government’s Operation in Our Sites, has been sentenced. Matthew Smith, known online as Dead1ne, received 14 months in prison, two years supervised release, and was ordered to pay back just over $172,000 he allegedly earned from the site.

An outspoken founder of NinjaVideo, one of the first domains to be targeted in the ongoing Operation in Our Sites, was sentenced today for conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement. Hana Beshara, known online as Phara, will now spend 22 months in prison followed by 2 years of probation and 500 hours of community service. A source close to NinjaVideo told TorrentFreak that Hana’s lawyer “was happy” with the sentence.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are continuing with their domain seizure policy. “Operation In Our Sites” has now been running for more than 12 months and has resulted in the shutdown of hundreds of sites. While file-sharing and streaming sites have been targeted, the main victims continue to [...]

The United States authorities seized 18 domain names yesterday in a continuation of Operation in Our Sites. ICE, marking Valentines Day, took over domains which they claim were linked to the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods. Unlike previous actions, no file-sharing sites were seized. Operation Broken Hearted, as this wave of seizures was called, [...]

The big news this week was without a doubt the domain seizure of 6 sport streaming sites, a few days before the Super Bowl. This third round of seizures surprised many people, starting with the sites owners, through the public all the way to a US Senator. In an interview with Public Radio, Homeland Security [...]

While Operation in Our Sites 2 and the grabbing of more than 80 domain names in November 2010 generated the most headlines, part 1 of the Operation in June clearly set the precedent for this type of action. Now some paperwork for the domain forfeiture of TVShack and others has appeared online which seems to send a clear message – linking to infringing material is enough to cost a site its domain.

At the end of June this year, nine sites connected to movie streaming were targeted by the U.S. Government. The operator of one of those sites, NinjaVideo, has now issued a plea for funds to fight back against what is undoubtedly a formidable force. “We are looking at six to seven digits and it’s going to be pure hell,” she explains. “We have nothing. Nothing at all. They took… everything.”