NEW YORK - A Michigan man has been charged with criminal copyright infringement related to his operation of websites that illegally streamed live sporting event telecasts and pay-per-view events over the Internet.
In a related action, 16 websites were seized because they illegally distributed copyrighted sporting events - including nine of the 16 which were operated by the man charged. This investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center).
Yonjo Quiroa, 28, of Comstock Park, Mich., was arrested Wednesday and operated nine of the 16 websites that were seized. The arrest and website seizures coincide with Operation Fake Sweep, which was announced earlier today in Indianapolis. This nationwide enforcement operation targeting stores, flea markets and street vendors selling counterfeit National Football League (NFL) game-related sportswear throughout the country. Special agents and officers also targeted illegal counterfeit imports into the United States, and seized hundreds of websites engaged in counterfeiting and piracy online.
The streaming websites seized include: (1) firstrow.tv, (2) xonesports.tv, (3) firstrowsports.tv, (4) firstrowsports.net, (5) firstrowsports.com, (6) hq-streams.tv, (7) robplay.tv, (8) soccertvlive.net, (9) sports95.net, (10) sports95.com, (11) sports95.org, (12) sportswwe.net, (13) sportswwe.tv, (14) sportswwe.com, (15) youwwe.net, and (16) youwwe.com.
In 2010 and 2011, Quiroa registered nine of the 16 seized domain names, and he operated the websites out of his home in Michigan until his arrest. Quiroa received profits of at least $13,000 from online merchants who paid him, through Internet advertising brokers, to advertise on at least one of the linking sites that he operated.
The 16 websites seized provided access to illegal, pirated telecasts of sporting events of the NFL, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and the TNA Impact Wrestling (TNA) - all of which hold the copyrights to the televised broadcasts of their respective sporting events.
The seized sites were popular "linking" sites - a type of website that provides access, or links, to other websites that hosted pirated sporting and pay-per-view events. At such sites, users simply click on a link to begin the process of downloading or streaming an illegal broadcast of a sporting event to their own computer.
These illegal broadcasts are from a third party website that is hosting the stream. Linking websites are popular because they allow users to quickly browse content and locate illegal streams that would otherwise be more difficult to find.
All visitors to these websites are now being redirected to a banner that advises them that the domain name has been seized in connection with criminal copyright violations.