LOS ANGELES – The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s leading anti-piracy coalition, announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has entered an $18.75 million default judgment against William Freemon, a longtime digital piracy operator leading multiple illegal IPTV services, including Streaming TV Now, Instant IPTV, and TV Nitro.
Freemon also operated a reseller program, Live TV Resellers, where he recruited others to sell subscriptions to illegal IPTV services.
In an order issued by Judge Sam A. Lindsay, the court awarded the studio plaintiffs $18.75 million in statutory damages for willful copyright infringement. The court also enjoined Freemon from engaging in further infringing activity and ordered the transfer of piracy-related domains to ACE.
Freemon’s services unlawfully provided subscribers with access to thousands of movie titles, television channels, premium content, and live sports programming, undermining legitimate distribution channels and harming the creative community.
This judgment marks another significant milestone in ACE’s ongoing global campaign to dismantle illegal streaming operations and hold repeat infringers accountable.
“This ruling sends a clear message to digital piracy operators: your actions have consequences,” said Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association. “We welcome the court’s decision and remain committed to aggressively pursuing individuals and networks that threaten the creative economy.”
About The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the legal creative market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease-and-desist operations, ACE has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and unauthorized content sources and their operators. Drawing upon the collective expertise and resources of more than 50 media and entertainment companies around the world—including sports channels and associations—and reinforced by the Motion Picture Association’s content protection operations, ACE protects the creativity and innovation that drives the global growth of core copyright and entertainment industries. The current governing board members for ACE are Amazon, Apple TV, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and Chairman of ACE.
Media Contact
Pamela Corante
pamela_corante@motionpictures.org
