Noor Nabi Chowdhury and his brother, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, were charged with many charges linked to digital streaming piracy in an indictment that was unsealed in the federal court located in Brooklyn. According to the allegations, the two individuals operated 247TVStream, a subscription-based online service that offered unlawful streaming of live sporting events and copyrighted TV series. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Chowdhury has been placed under arrest, but his brother Rahman remains free.
Officials described how, for as little as $10 a month, users could unlawfully access content through their operation, which has been in operation since May 2017. It is estimated that the service, which lacked the necessary permissions, cost legitimate copyright owners and well-known streaming services more than $100 million in damages. The allegations, which include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, were announced by Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, along with other law enforcement officials. The government has now confiscated internet domain names associated with the operation.
Messages announcing a seizure by federal officials are being displayed to users of 247TVStream’s websites during the raid. The significant involvement of international law enforcement agencies also shows a concerted commitment to enforce criminal copyright laws across borders, as evidenced by the seizures of some of the service’s infrastructure servers in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as part of an international cooperative effort.
If convictions are carried out, the indictment carries the weight of lengthy jail sentences. The accused may face the worst punishments possible, which could result in decades in prison: “As alleged, the defendants operated a bootleg online streaming service that distributed copyrighted television programs that they stole for their personal enrichment,” according to a statement provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office from United States Attorney Peace. Under the direction of the HSI New York Field Office, the matter is still being investigated, with assistance from their Buffalo Field Office and overseas attaché offices.
The Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Trial Attorneys Vasantha Rao and Jeff Pearlman, along with Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Schuman, are prosecuting the case. Until proven guilty, the accused are considered innocent. The case serves as an example of the government’s increased monitoring of digital piracy and its important ramifications for both consumers and creators in the rapidly changing digital landscape.
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