November 1, 2021

Joshua Streit, an operator of a pirate website, was recently indicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on charges of wire fraud, illegal digital transmission, sending interstate threats with the intent of extortion and two counts of computer intrusion.

The charges come on the heels of an effort by Streit to extort Major League Baseball for $150,000 after he hacked into their computer systems and threatened to publish security vulnerabilities.

FBI Deputy Director Michael Driscoll said, “We allege Mr. [Streit] hacked into the systems of several of our country’s biggest professional sports leagues and illegally streamed copyrighted live games. Instead of quitting while he was ahead, he allegedly decided to continue the game by extorting one of the leagues, threatening to expose the very vulnerability he used to hack them.”

While the judge determines the sentence, the maximum possible sentences Streit could receive for the charges add up to 37 years in prison, including 20 years for wire fraud.

For more information read the original story in Arstechnica.