Nader is not easily defeated, however. In 2020 he\u00a0took the RIAA to court<\/a>\u00a0in an attempt to have the site declared legal.<\/p>\n The RIAA case is still under appeal, but meanwhile, Nader faced more immediate threats. In 2021, Yout\u2019s owner learned that the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, had\u00a0filed a criminal complaint<\/a>\u00a0against him.<\/p>\n In 2022, the prosecution offered Yout.com a way out in the form of a deal. In exchange for reaching an agreement on several predetermined terms, the public prosecutor was willing to\u00a0suspend the criminal prosecution<\/a>. This would come at a cost, however.<\/p>\n Under the proposed terms, Yout\u2019s operator would have to pay the authorities 1.9 million Brazilian reals, roughly $400,000, which Nader rejected.<\/p>\n Without a deal, the defense tried to get the case dismissed outright. Yout\u2019s attorneys argued, among other things, that the site functions like an Internet DVR; it doesn\u2019t store any infringing material and has sufficient legal uses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, the court eventually concluded that the requirements for criminal prosecution had been met, and allowed the\u00a0prosecution to go ahead<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a detailed 21-page ruling issued last Friday, Judge Eva Lobo Chaib Dias Jorge of the 12th Criminal Court of S\u00e3o Paulo, found Yout\u2019s Johnathan Nader guilty of large-scale copyright infringement. The court dismissed the defense\u2019s arguments, concluding that the stream-ripper is a dedicated piracy tool.<\/p>\n The finding was based on technical evidence provided by the court-appointed expert, Ricardo Andrian Capozzi, who concluded that Yout wasn\u2019t merely a \u201cneutral\u201d recording tool. Instead, Yout is specifically created to bypass the security measures implemented by sites like YouTube.<\/p>\n The Judge was not swayed by the defense\u2019s argument that Yout.com can be used in plenty of \u201cfair use\u201d situations too.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, it is evident that the service operated by the defendant directly contravenes the constitutional protection of copyright, misappropriating the works of others and causing both financial and moral harm to the legitimate rights holders. For this reason, holding the defendant accountable is not only legitimate but necessary for the preservation of the legal order and the integrity of the cultural market itself,\u201d the verdict reads (translated).<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the evidence contained in the records, it is understood that there is substantial proof of a violation of the Copyright Law (Law No. 9,610\/1998), and the service offered by Yout.com constitutes an illegal practice, directly infringing upon copyrights.\u201d<\/p>\n The court determined that, with millions of Brazilian visits to Yout.com, copyright infringement was committed millions of times. As the responsible party, Nader was technically sentenced to a prison term of three years and four months, but for now his immediate future won\u2019t be inside a Brazilian cell.<\/p>\n Because Nader is a first-time offender, the judge substituted the prison term with two \u201calternative\u201d restrictive penalties under Article 44 of the Penal Code. Instead of serving a prison sentence, Nader is required to pay a total of 200 monthly minimum wages to a Public Security Incentive Fund (FISP).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The verdict doesn\u2019t mention what the applied daily minimum wage rate is. Online searches suggest that the 2025 monthly minimum in Brazil is\u00a0R$1,518.00<\/a>, which would put the total penalty at R$303,600 (~USD$55,000). We want to stress, however, the verdict doesn\u2019t list any amount.<\/p>\n The prison sentence is not completely off the radar either, as a failure to pay the fine or comply with the court\u2019s conditions could eventually bring it back into play.<\/p>\n One of the most significant aspects of the ruling is the judge\u2019s rejection of Nader\u2019s jurisdictional defense. Nader argued that, as a Connecticut-based operator of a U.S. company, he should not be subject to Brazilian criminal law.<\/p>\n The judge ruled that, since the site was visited millions of times by Brazilians, the stream-ripper has a real impact within national borders. As a result, the court concluded that Brazilian law applies regardless of where Yout.com\u2019s servers or its developer are located.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that the defendant\u2019s conduct was not considered punishable in its country of origin in no way undermines its illegality when the results are reflected in our National Territory,\u201d the verdict reads.<\/p>\n The ruling comes as a significant setback for Yout.com\u2019s operator, who is expected to appeal the verdict. Yout.com, meanwhile, remains blocked by Brazilian Internet providers.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n A copy of the verdict, issued by Judge Eva Lobo Chaib Dias Jorge of the 12th Criminal Court of S\u00e3o Paulo, is available\u00a0in Portuguese here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Source: \u00a0Criminal Conviction<\/h2>\n
![\"yout](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/dvryout.png.webp)
<\/picture><\/center> <\/p>\nYout Operator Found Guilty<\/h2>\n
Substituted Prison Sentence<\/h2>\n
![\"yout](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/yout-sentence.png.webp)
<\/picture><\/center> <\/p>\nBrazil\u2019s Jurisdiction over a U.S. Operation<\/h2>\n
![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"