NinjaVideo co-founder gets 14 months in prison for copyright infringement

The co-founder of a website that allowed users to watch streaming videos of TV shows, movies, and documentaries has been sentenced to 14 months in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Twenty-four-year old Matthew David Howard Smith, also known by the online alias Dead1ne, plead guilty to criminal copyright infringement charges in September 2011.

He was one of the founders of NinjaVideo.net, which hosted links for movies and TV shows and was taken down in June of 2010 as part of the U.S. Department of Justice's “Operation in Our Sites.”

A Virginia judge ordered Smith to serve two years of supervised release following his prison term, pay $172,387 and to forfeit to the United States five financial accounts and various computer equipment involved in the crimes.

The site generated $500,000 during its two-and-a-half years of operation through ad revenue.

Smith was indicted along with four others late last year.

Another co-founder of the site, Hana "Phara" Beshara, was sentenced to 22 months in prison on January 6 and ordered to repay nearly $210,000 to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

Two other people are awaiting sentencing stemming from the operations of NinjaVideo.net.