West
Computer programmer convicted for role in Nevada-based illegal streaming service, one of largest in US: DOJ
A computer programmer who helped operate one of the largest illegal television streaming services in the United States was convicted by a Nevada jury, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Yoany Vaillant, 43, a permanent U.S. resident, worked as a computer programmer for Jetflicks, an online, subscription-based service in Las Vegas that allowed users to stream and download copyrighted television episodes without the permission of its owners, the Justice Department said.
He was convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and is the eighth and final defendant to be convicted in the case.
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Someone watching a live television broadcast program. Streaming services have become popular in households amid a changing entertainment landscape. (iStock)
At one point, Jetflicks, based in Las Vegas, claimed to have 183,285 different television episodes, far more than Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, or any other licensed streaming service, authorities said. The service often provided episodes to subscribers, sometimes a day after they originally aired on television, prosecutors said.
The vast scale of the piracy impacted “every significant copyright owner of a television program in the U.S. and resulted in millions of dollars in losses to U.S. television and streaming industries,” a DOJ news release said.
Vaillant was one of eight defendants indicted in 2019 in Virginia for running Jetflicks. His co-defendant, Darryl Polo, also a computer programmer, pleaded guilty to four criminal copyright counts and one money laundering count and was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
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FILE – An FBI seal is seen on a wall on Aug. 10, 2022, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Luis Villarino pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and was sentenced to one year in prison.
In February 2022, the case was transferred to the District of Nevada for trial before Vaillant’s case was severed from the other remaining five defendants — Dallmann, Jaurequi, Douglas Courson, Felipe Garcia, and Peter Huber — who were all tried in Las Vegas.
The five were found guilty of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, and Dallmann was also found guilty of three additional counts of criminal copyright infringement and two counts of money laundering by concealment.
In this photo illustration, the logo of Netflix is displayed. (Getty Images)
Dallmann, Courson, Garcia, Jaurequi, Huber, and Vaillant are scheduled to be sentenced in February.
The case is the largest internet piracy case by volume of infringed works, and first illegal streaming case, ever to go to trial, prosecutors said.
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco District Attorney speaks on city’s crime drop
Thursday marks one year in office for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
Lurie was elected in the 14th round of ranked choice voting in 2024, beating incumbent London Breed.
His campaign centered around public safety and revitalization of the city.
Mayor Lurie is also celebrating a significant drop in crime; late last week, the police chief said crime hit historic lows in 2025.
- Overall violent crime dropped 25% in the city, which includes the lowest homicide rate since the 1950s.
- Robberies are down 24%.
- Car break-ins are down 43%.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins spoke with NBC Bay Area about this accomplishment. Watch the full interview in the video player above.
Denver, CO
Denver weather: Snow tails off Friday, but morning commute could be slick
Seattle, WA
Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken
And while Dunn’s head coach insisted afterwards he doesn’t believe in “measuring stick games” the Kraken measured up fairly well in this one considering they played a pretty poor first period and needed half of the second frame to get any type of offense going against the league’s No. 2 defensive unit.
But they eventually got it going and the salvaged point, as Dunn mentioned, was huge in that it allowed the Kraken to remain in third place in the Pacific Division – just two points behind leaders Vegas and Edmonton – as they now embark on a five-city road trip. They extended their points streak to 10 games in the process, going 8-0-2 that stretch to transform a season hinging on the brink.
Mats Zuccarello got the overtime winner for Minnesota, converting a Kirill Kaprizov pass off a 2-on-1 break after the Kraken had been foiled just moments prior on their own odd-man rush. That foiled an outstanding night for Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, who’d made several huge stops in both overtime and the third period to keep things tied, as well as prior to that frame to give his team the shot at a comeback.
The Kraken had spent the past week filling opposition nets with pucks but waited until the final 17 minutes to score their first goal of this game. By that point, they’d been trailing 2-0 since a pair of 42-foot wrist shot goals by Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber in the first period silenced the home crowd.
“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the biggest part of that,” Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start the game. So, we kind of set ourselves up for the second period to come out and play the right way and I thought as the game went on, we got a lot better.
“And I thought it was a pretty competitive game both ways. A lot of chances both ways.”
Grubauer kept things close from there, stopping 31 of 34 shots on the night to give his team a chance to get back in it.
Adam Larsson then got the Kraken on the board three minutes into the final period with a slap shot goal from the right circle after Dunn had rung one off the post on a prior blast seconds earlier. And the Kraken weren’t done yet.
The Wild ran into penalty trouble not long after and the Kraken capitalized on the power play with Matty Beniers banging home a net front rebound off a Jared McCann shot that lifted the home side into a 2-2 tie and sent the Climate Pledge Arena crowd into a frenzy.
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