Kristopher Lee Dallmann, the 42-year-old ringleader of the sophisticated illegal streaming service Jetflicks, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. A jury in June 2024 had previously convicted the Las Vegas resident of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, alongside four accomplices. Dallmann was also found guilty on multiple additional charges, including money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement, cementing his role as the central figure in one of the largest piracy operations prosecuted in the United States.
The evidence presented at trial detailed a highly automated and efficient criminal enterprise. For 12 years, from 2007 until the FBI shut it down in 2019, Jetflicks utilized custom software and scripts to scour pirate websites across the globe for illegal content. Once identified, television shows and movies were automatically downloaded, processed, and made available on servers located in the United States and Canada. The service was designed for user convenience, offering content on various devices and platforms, often making television episodes available to its subscribers the day after they officially aired.
The sheer scale of the operation was staggering. At its peak, Jetflicks offered its tens of thousands of paid subscribers a catalog of over 183,000 television episodes and 10,500 movies, all pirated from legitimate services like Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Amazon Prime. According to the Department of Justice, this vast library of stolen content generated millions of dollars in illicit profits for Dallmann and his co-conspirators. The government provided a conservative estimate for the value of the copyright infringement, pegging the loss at approximately $37.5 million, which includes the retail value of both the pirated works and the illegal streams provided to subscribers.
Officials emphasized the widespread damage caused by the scheme, which extended beyond corporate losses. “This scheme generated millions of dollars in criminal profits, and hurt thousands of U.S. companies and individuals who owned the copyrights to these shows but never received a penny in compensation from Jetflicks,” stated Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti. Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI added that by running the service, the individuals “not only stole from content creators and legitimate streaming services, they undermined the integrity of our economy and the rule of law.”
The sentencing of the Jetflicks ringleader marks a significant victory for law enforcement and copyright holders in the ongoing battle against digital piracy. This case is part of a broader, global crackdown on such illegal operations. Underscoring the persistent nature of this fight, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) recently announced another major takedown in December 2024, dismantling Vietnam-based Markkystreams, one of the world’s largest live sports piracy networks, which had attracted over 821 million visits in the last year alone.
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