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.
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.