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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Feds Seize Pro Sports Websites

MANHATTAN (CN) - Federal prosecutors seized 16 websites and charged a 28-year-old Michigan man with making thousands of dollars by streaming live sports events over the Internet.

Yonjo Quiroa aka Ronaldo Solano, of Comstock Park, Mich., was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal copyright infringement.

Prosecutors say Quiroa ran nine of the 16 websites they seized, from his Michigan home. He made at least $13,000 from online merchants who paid him, through Internet brokers, to advertise on his illegal websites, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

"The seized sites were popular 'linking' sites - a type of website that provides access, or links, to other websites that hosted pirated sporting and Pay-Per-View events," prosecutors said in announcing the arrest. "At such sites, users simply click on a link to begin the process of downloading or streaming an illegal broadcast of a sporting event to their own computer. These illegal broadcasts are from a third party website that is hosting the stream. Linking websites are popular because they allow users to quickly browse content and locate illegal streams that would otherwise be more difficult to find."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said its investigation is not over.

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