Man facing jail time for embedding video

Andre Yoskowitz
14 Mar 2011 2:07

Brian McCarthy, the owner of channelsurfing.net, is now facing up to five years in prison after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused him of linking to copyrighted material.
The site linked to copyrighted material, none of which was hosted by the site or its owner.

Regardless the DHS, along with ICE took the domain, leaving this message:


This domain has been seized by ICE - Homeland Security Investigations, Special Agent in Charge, New York Office.

It is unlawful to reproduce copyrighted material, such as movies, music, software or games, without authorization... First-time offenders convicted of a criminal felony copyright law will face up to five years in federal prison, restitution, forfeiture and fine.


If the government is successful in their case, it could set a precedent that would mean all users who have ever even linked to copyrighted content (sharing a video link via email, etc) could be prosecuted.

You can view the complaint here: New York man faces five years in jail for ‘linking’ to online videos

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