Online sports streaming site owner avoids jail time in new deal with Feds

Brian McCarthy, the accused operator of Channelsurfing.net—a site that linked to unauthorized streams of sporting events—has signed a deal with the Department of Justice. This will effectively grant him amnesty, according to court documents filed earlier this month published Tuesday by TorrentFreak.

As Ars reported in 2011, McCarthy had his domain name seized in February. By March, the Feds had tracked him down and arrested him. By October 2011, he was charged with criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

“Brian 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,” Preet Bhara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement in March 2011. “This arrest sends a clear message that this office, working with its partners at HSI, will vigorously protect valuable intellectual property rights through arrests and domain name seizures.”