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A man who ran several piracy websites that allowed people to download movies and TV shows in the United States has been sentenced. Talon White, who previously pleaded guilty to copyright infringement and tax evasion, has been handed 12 months in prison and ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution to the MPAA and IRS.
Nearly eight years ago, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents received information from PayPal relating to a pair of hacked websites called Noobroom.com and Noobroom7.com.
The platforms allowed subscribers to stream movies and TV shows, something that proved particularly important to the MPAA. The Hollywood Group conducted an investigation and determined that the sites distribute copyrighted works without the permission of the owners.
Hollywood is trying to shut down the sites
In the summer of 2014, the MPAA (now the MPA) sent a cease and desist to Noobroom but within days, the site began sending its users to a new site called SuperChillin.com. According to the MPAA, this site — along with two others called Movietv.co and SitPlay.com — is operated by Oregon-based Talon White.
Court documents reveal that after downloading movies from SuperChillin, the MPAA was able to associate an IP address with White. The Sit2Play recorder (which was an almost identical copy of Movietv.co) was listed as White and an associated email address was also attached to it.
White is suspected of mass copyright infringement, not to mention money laundering offenses, so in November 2018 a judge approved a search and seizure warrant targeting millions in cash and crypto assets.
A year later, White pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal copyright infringement and tax evasion that would have potentially resulted in five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a three-year supervised release on each of the two counts.
After a delay of more than a year, White was sentenced to prison
White was originally scheduled to be sentenced during February 2020 but for reasons likely to include complications from the coronavirus pandemic, which took much longer than initially expected.
However, last Friday White was sentenced to prison for illegally distributing thousands of copyrighted movies and TV shows and evading taxes on profits generated by his various illegal websites.
According to the Department of Justice, White has profited greatly from his websites. Between February 2018 and September 2018 alone, he received nearly $3 million in fees. During the November 2018 search and seizure, agents seized $3.9 million from his accounts, $35,000 in cash, and more than $1 million in cryptocurrency. However, White did not correctly interpret this.
Between 2013 and 2017, the 31-year-old filed false personal income tax returns, resulting in his income being underreported by more than $4.4 million and causing the IRS a tax loss of more than $1.7 million.
One year in prison, $4.3 million in compensation to the MPAA and IRS
In addition to being sentenced to 12 months in prison, one day in federal prison, and three years of supervised release, White was ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution to the MPAA and IRS. At White’s hearing, it was revealed that the lion’s share of the compensation would go to the IRS.
Furthermore, White was told that he must forfeit all US coins and cryptocurrencies that were confiscated from his bank accounts. He would also lose a house in Newport purchased with the proceeds from his piracy.