A Dallas man who ran multiple pirate IPTV services and sold loaded Fire TV Stick devices now faces an $18.75 million default judgment recommended by a federal magistrate judge.
Hollywood Sues Dallas IPTV Operator
Netflix, Amazon, and several major Hollywood studios filed suit against William Freemon and his company, Freemon Technology Industries (FTI), in March 2024.
The complaint accused him of copyright infringement through four unauthorized IPTV services: Streaming TV Now, TV Nitro, Instant IPTV, and Cash App IPTV.
Court documents also state that Freemon operated a reseller platform known as Live TV Resellers, which allowed others to sell access to the same IPTV services.
His operation started between 2016 and 2019 with modified Fire TV Sticks sold through two websites registered in his own name.
Streaming TV Now was the largest service, boasting 11,000 live channels, 27,000 on-demand movies, and 9,000 TV series.
Three of those services shared a single backend server, and a tutorial video even showed someone logging into an Amazon account under Freemon’s name.
Defendant Refused to Cooperate
Getting Freemon before a judge took seven service attempts. Once served, he told attorneys he wouldn’t file an answer. The court ordered him to hire a lawyer for his LLC, but he ignored that too.
Hide Your Digital Fingerprint
Rather than mounting a proper defense, he filed motions that broke court rules and were thrown out. Freemon even demanded payment from the studios, telling them to pay him if they wanted the infringement to stop.
After receiving a cease-and-desist letter in February 2023, he claimed to have transferred his domains. The studios turned that against him, noting that domain transfers require owner authorization. His services kept running through at least January 2024.
Judge Finalizes Maximum Damages
Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver previously recommended granting the full default judgment, finding the infringement was willful.
This week, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay formally adopted that recommendation, ordering Freemon to pay $18,750,000 in statutory damages.
The court calculated the amount using the statutory maximum of $150,000 per work across 125 copyrighted titles, including Universal’s Oppenheimer.
The total judgment may increase further. The court approved a 3.51% annual post-judgment interest rate until the damages are paid in full. Attorneys’ fees are also expected to be awarded later, which could add to the final amount.
Injunction Targets Domains
Beyond the financial penalty, the plaintiffs secured a permanent injunction against Freemon and his company. The order bars them from reproducing, distributing, or publicly performing the studios’ copyrighted works, or assisting others in doing so.
The injunction also requires eight domains connected to the IPTV network to be transferred to the studios, including:
- streamingtvnow.com
- streamingtvnow.net
- tvnitro.net
- cashappiptv.com
- livetvresellers.com
- stncloud.ltd
- stnlive.ltd
-
instantiptv.net
Domain registrars must complete these transfers within five days. If they fail to act, registry operators may place the domains on hold or transfer them to another registrar selected by the studios.
The order also allows the studios to return to court and add more domains if evidence shows they are connected to Freemon’s operation.
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Most of these domains already appear to be offline, meaning the seizure may not have an immediate effect. However, the ruling gives studios a strong tool if any of the services attempt to return.
Final Thoughts
Another massive IPTV judgment is headed for the books with hard lessons attached. Selling loaded Fire TV Sticks and operating pirate streaming services can bring life-altering financial consequences.
While studios celebrate wins like these, thousands of similar pirate operations continue worldwide. It’s the timeless question of would the entertainment industry see better results by making content more affordable or chasing endless court battles?
For more details on this story, refer to the official court documentation (PDF) and the report from TorrentFreak.
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