Texan charged for webcasting UFC

I bet will make Dana White happy. From The Hill:

Bryan McCarthy, 32, of Deer Park, Texas, was taken into custody at his home and charged with one count of criminal infringement of copyright. ICE claims McCarthy made more than $90,000 by operating channelsurfer.net, which was seized by federal authorities on Feb. 1 as part of a crackdown on online piracy.

“[…] McCarthy allegedly sought to profit by intercepting and then streaming live sporting events, hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet to make a quick buck through what is little more than high-tech thievery,” said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

According to the criminal complaint, channelsurfer.net served as an online portal to pirated webcasts of NFL, NBA, NHL, World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship events. Since its seizure the site has received more than 1.3 million hits.

Another sign the Obama administration is taking online piracy a lot more seriously than its predecessors. The will be welcome news not just for those leagues but any event that employs Pay Per View as part of its business model.

Since we regularly cough up between $30 and $60 bucks for even mediocre PPV cards, we’ve really got no sympathy for those affected by the bust.