Founder of illegal movie streaming site sentenced to 4.5 years in jail, $4.7 million fine
The founder of one of Europe’s leading illegal movie-streaming portals has been sentenced to 4.5 years in jail, Deutsche Welle reports. 39-year-old Kino.to founder “Dirk B.” received a reduced sentence from a German judge this week after confessing to copyright infringement crimes related to his site, which allowed users to stream copyrighted movies illegally. Prosecutors were seeking an 11-year sentence, however the defendant’s confession and apology earned him less than half that time. Dirk B. will also have to pay a $4.7 million fine related to a sample 1.1 million instances of copyright infringement, though it is alleged that the man earned as much as $8 million from advertising on Kino.to.
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