Hollywood wins $15M judgment against IPTV pirates who ghosted in court

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) secured a $15 million default judgment against the operator of a pirate streaming service after he failed to appear in court to defend against copyright infringement charges. The ruling marks a major win for the Hollywood coalition in its ongoing fight against illegal streaming operations.

• The price of piracy: A U.S. District Court in California found Zachary DeBarr, operator of Outer Limits IPTV, liable for “egregious copyright infringement on a massive scale,” according to the ruling from Judge Josephine Staton. The $15 million figure was reached by applying the maximum statutory penalty of $150,000 for each of 100 pirated works cited in the complaint filed by ACE, which represents Netflix, Disney, Amazon, and Paramount.
• All you can steal: DeBarr's service offered subscribers a massive illegal library that included over 13,000 movies and thousands of TV series. Court filings noted the Murrieta resident built an audience of 100,000 subscribers on his "iTrustStream" YouTube channel, where he promoted the service. The court highlighted his history as a repeat offender, noting he had received a cease-and-desist notice in 2020, shut down, and then brazenly relaunched in 2021.
• One down, more to go: The judgment is part of a broader legal campaign by the anti-piracy group. The lawsuit against DeBarr was filed in March alongside a parallel complaint in Pennsylvania against the alleged operator of several other pirate services, including "Beast Mode Live" and "Shrugs." In addition to the financial penalty, the court issued a permanent injunction against DeBarr and ordered him to hand over his domain names.

While the cat-and-mouse game between pirates and rightsholders continues, multi-million dollar judgments serve as a clear deterrent message to other illegal operators. For those who want to see the legal language firsthand, the full court order is available to read, while TorrentFreak offers a deeper dive into the case history.