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Making £35k a month from internet ads sounds like a dream come true, but in an age where sites like Facebook can bring in absolute millions, it’s not the most impossible thing to do, right? Well, if you’ve been considering following in internet pirate Anton Vickerman’s footsteps, it’s time to reconsider, as the gavel was pounded down on his court-case today, with Vickerman receiving a prison-stay thanks to his illegal streaming site SurfTheChannel.com
Vickerman’s site had over 400,000 hits a day and was in the top 500 internet sites at one point, but now, he’s been convicted of two counts of conspiracy to defraud after an eight-week trial in June. Vickerman set up and controlled the site through a limited company, and profits were sent over to an offshore bank account in Latvia. Hmm, not Swiss?
The Federation Against Copyright Theft called the verdict a “landmark” case and could pave the way for similar sites to be culled in the future. Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, and fan of the word ‘criminal’, said: “This was a criminal conspiracy for criminal profit to fund a criminal lifestyle and Vickerman is now paying the price.” [Evening Standard]
Image credit: Piracy from Shutterstock
Surely this kind of story shows networks and studios that there is money to be made from free on-line streaming? Instead of fighting to get all streaming sites shut down, I believe they should just open their own. They will never be able to stop piracy, so they might as well be the one to post it online and get money for it.
What would be really good is if services like Netflix offered a free membership which allowed you to watch an hour a day or something, provided they had the new episodes out pretty quickly. That way you could stream and watch the latest episode, but if you wanted to re-watch anything for an extended period of time you’d have to pay
Then I’d never pay for anything, I pretty much watch the new episodes and that’s it. I’d like to pay something like 60p for a movie though, then they’d rake in money from me.
That was kind of what I was going for, they’d make their money off adverts for that subscription. Also, would you pay 60p to stream a movie or actually own a digital copy?
I was thinking just for a viewing, I wouldn’t mind paying that every time I wanted to watch something I don’t think. The idea behind that was because I buy the 59p apps on my ipod without thinking about it.
Yeah 60p isn’t that much for a film. Problem is I usually have a film on as it helps me get to sleep, especially if I’ve been working right up to bed time (helps my mind relax easier) so it could get expensive :/
Totally – don’t shows like Family Guy and Southpark already host all their episodes online for free in the US, presumably supported by ads? The days of DVD sales are numbered – you aren’t going to get revenue from cable providers once everyone (inevitably) cancels their subscriptions – so why not learn a lesson from the guys bringing in substantial (albeit illegal) revenue in your market? Possibly a biased point of view as consumers always love something as close to free as they can get it, but if it works for Google and Facebook – why can’t it work for the production companies? Plus we get the added bonus of making the MPAA/RIAA etc completely obsolete! Result!
a Criminal life style… like anyones lifestyle who earns alot of money so by that rule.. footballers.. Mps, Royals, Bankers, advertising execs., CEOs etc..