Bell, Rogers, Disney Piracy Fight Sends Ontario Duo to Prison

Two Ontario men linked to a major online piracy service have been sentenced to prison—not for copyright infringement, but for refusing to follow court orders.

According to the National Post, Antonio Macciacchera, 73, of Woodbridge, and his son Marshall, of Barrie, were each handed five-year contempt of court sentences after repeatedly ignoring demands to turn over passwords and financial details tied to a bootleg streaming network called Smoothstreams.

Smoothstreams offered cheap access to movies, TV and live sports worldwide from at least 2018, attracting millions of visits. Investigators working for Bell, Rogers, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Columbia and Warner Bros. spent years tracking the service through servers, websites and payment systems. Their probe, described in court as extensive and costly, pointed to the Macciaccheras in 2022.

When it comes to Bell and Rogers, piracy streams target live sports as both telecoms hold exclusive broadcasting rights in Canada to major sporting events and leagues, such as the NHL, NFL and more.

Back in June, when the case was nearly three years old, it had not fully reached federal court yet, and both men at the time were keeping their lips sealed, refusing to share passwords and more.

Court-authorized raids found dozens of receivers and servers that had been recording TV content and rebroadcasting it online. Customers praised the service as “the gift that keeps giving,” but once servers were unplugged, the feeds went dark.

Rather than resolve the copyright case, the Macciaccheras defied court orders, losing passports and racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. A Federal Court judge ruled their contempt “brazen, defiant and open.”

Marshall was ordered jailed for six months followed by a five-year term, or until he complies. Antonio faces four months, then the same five-year sentence if he continues to withhold banking details.

Lawyer Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie, speaking for the media companies, said illegal services like Smoothstreams are “a critical threat to the creative industry” and the ruling shows courts will enforce compliance.