‘We recognise it in this very primal way’: Stephen Fry, Brie Larson, Chris Ofili and more on why we can’t get enough of Greek mythology; The Guardian, November 24, 2024

 Introduction by Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian; ‘We recognise it in this very primal way’: Stephen Fry, Brie Larson, Chris Ofili and more on why we can’t get enough of Greek mythology

"Greek myth is not a stable thing. There is no such thing as a canonical, “original” version of a Greek myth. The stories that remain to us – the material of classical plays and poetry, and of visual culture from pottery to pediments – are already elaborations and accretions. In the ancient Greek and Roman world, stories were adapted and remade to serve the needs of the moment. The Greek tragedians often took the germ of an idea from the Homeric epics, and built an entire plot from it. Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, for instance, is in dialogue with Homer’s Odyssey: both are stories of a warrior’s return from war, but with entirely different outcomes. Euripides’s subversive play Helen proposes that the entire Trojan war was fought not in the cause of a real woman, but of an illusory, fake version sent by the gods, while the “real” Helen of Troy sat out the siege in Egypt.

Seen in this light, as novelist Pat Barker points out below, the modern appetite for working with (and maybe sometimes against) Greek myth is a part of a long continuum, rather than an innovation...

Stephen Fry on Ithaka by CP Cavafy (1911), a poem inspired by The Odyssey

Author of Mythos, Heroes and Troy, a trilogy of books retelling the myths of ancient Greece

The Odyssey is the beginning of human modernity. Suddenly, the greatest qualities a warrior could have were cunning, intelligence and curiosity, but also a sense of home – Odysseus is constantly striving to get back to his wife and son. There was something new in that. This idea of “nostos” – of returning home to the hearth after your wanderings – has been very powerful in the Greek imagination ever since.

Early last century, there was a wonderful Greek poet living in Alexandria named Constantine Cavafy. I found out about him by reading EM Forster, who met Cavafy in Alexandria and recommended him to WH Auden and others. One of Cavafy’s greatest poems is about Ithaca, the island which Odysseus spends 10 years trying to get back to. The poem is about this journey, this yearning to find the place that we think of as home, but Cavafy tells us that it’s not worth anything. You must strive for it, he says, but you’ll find it isn’t the place itself that’s the destination, it’s the striving, it’s what you learn on the way. It’s the gorgeous things you find and the people you meet and the experiences you have. So you must aim for Ithaca and simultaneously know it’s not worth getting to, because it will have nothing to give you. That’s how the poem ends, in Edmund Keeley’s terrific translation: “Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey./ Without her you wouldn’t have set out./ She has nothing left to give you now.”

I think it’s a very brilliant and moving poem, even in translation (I’m sure if you were fluent in modern Greek it would be even more astonishing). It’s an example of what the Greek myths can give us in terms of retellings. All the JRR Tolkien books are nostos stories, stories of returns home – The Hobbit is subtitled There and Back Again. It is the most mythic, primal, elemental story that we have. As told to Killian Fox"

Ronan Farrow on surveillance spyware: ‘It threatens democracy and freedom’; The Guardian, November 23, 2024

Adrian Horton , The Guardian; Ronan Farrow on surveillance spyware: ‘It threatens democracy and freedom’

"Surveilled, now on HBO, is, on one level, a visual accompaniment to Farrow’s bombshell April 2022 report on how governments – western democracies, autocratic regimes and many in between – secretly use commercial spyware to snoop on their citizens. The hour-long documentary, directed by Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz, records the emotional toll, scope and threat potential of a technology most people are neither aware of nor understand. It also serves as an argument for urgent journalistic and civic oversight of commercial spyware – its deliberately obscure manufacturers, its abuse by state clients and its silent erosion of privacy.

The film, like Farrow’s 2022 article and much of his subsequent reporting, primarily concerns a proprietary spyware technology called Pegasus that is produced by the Israeli company NSO Group. Pegasus, as the film chillingly demonstrates, can infiltrate a private device through one of its many third-party apps, sometimes with one click – via a spam or phishing link – or, for certain models, without any help of the device’s owner at all. Once activated, Pegasus can control your phone, turn on your microphone, use the camera, record voice or video, and disgorge any of its data – your texts, photos, location. It is very possible, and now documented, to be hacked by Pegasus and not even know it.

Surveilled follows Farrow on his globe-trotting efforts to trace the invisible, international scope of Pegasus: to Tel Aviv, the center of the commercial spyware industry, where NSO executives toe the party line that the group only sells to governments for law enforcement purposes and has no knowledge of its abuses. To Silicon Valley, where the giant tech companies such as WhatsApp are in a game of cat and mouse with Pegasus and others infiltrating its services. To Canada, where the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab leads efforts for transparency on who has Pegasus, and what they are doing with it. And to Barcelona, where Citizen Lab representatives detect Pegasus hacks, suspected from and later confirmed by the Spanish government, on pro-Catalan independence politicians, journalists and their families...

“All of the privacy law experts that I’m talking to are very, very afraid right now,” he added. “This tech is just increasingly everywhere, and I think we have to contend with the inevitability that this is not just going to be this path of private companies selling to governments.”

Though in part a film of journalistic process, Surveilled also advocates for a regulatory framework on commercial spyware and surveillance, as well as awareness – even if you are not a journalist, a dissident, an activist, you could be surveilled, with privacy writ large at stake."

A Long-Held Secret Is Now Public. Will It Alter Cormac McCarthy’s Legacy?; The New York Times, November 23, 2024

Alexandra Alter and Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times; A Long-Held Secret Is Now Public. Will It Alter Cormac McCarthy’s Legacy?

"Several scholars also raised questions about the extensive excerpts from McCarthy’s letters to Britt, and noted that while Britt owns the physical letters, McCarthy’s words, even in letters to others, are the intellectual property of his literary estate. Attempts to reach a representative of McCarthy’s literary estate were not successful, but a person with knowledge of the estate’s practices who was not authorized to speak on the record said that the estate did not grant permission for McCarthy’s letters to be reproduced."

Facing Cuts Likely to Worsen Under Trump, Academic Librarians Urgently Organize; Truthout, November 17, 2024

 Emily Drabinski, Truthout; Facing Cuts Likely to Worsen Under Trump, Academic Librarians Urgently Organize

"The Project 2025 blueprint for the next Trump administration sets its sights on two crucial public institutions: libraries and higher education. Librarians show up on page 5 — targeted for their support for LGBTQIA+ reading — while dismantling the Department of Education, eliminating student loan programs, and restricting what can be taught about gender, race and class feature throughout the document. But even as academic librarians live in dread of what will happen to their libraries after January 20, many of them are also already facing termination now...

In March, the Department of Education (DOE) announced plans to eliminate data collection about academic libraries from its Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. In contemporary higher education, resources are allocated to those who can make a data-driven case for them — that’s part of what it means to run a school like a business. Removing libraries from the survey means that they can’t be counted at all. In a joint comment, several major library associations argued that such a decision would make it impossible to benchmark resources and services at the 3,700 academic libraries in the U.S. that data librarians use to argue for increased staffing and materials budgets. Such erasure will also make it impossible “to understand the cost of information over time, as well as the correlation between research expenditures and the cost of information.” The DOE still plans to eliminate academic library data beginning in 2025-26, undercutting the capacity of librarians to articulate their value in the data-driven language required by the contemporary university."

How To Avoid AI Misinformation: 2 Essential Steps For Smarter Research; Forbes, November 21, 2024

 Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., Forbes; How To Avoid AI Misinformation: 2 Essential Steps For Smarter Research

"AI can be a powerful ally or a risky gamble, depending on how you use it. If you’re relying on AI for research, taking shortcuts can backfire—and cost you your credibility. To avoid AI misinformation, follow these two essential steps:

1. Ask for references.
2. Verify those references yourself.

Here’s why these steps are critical."

A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness; The New York Times, November 17, 2024

Gina Kolata , The New York Times; A.I. Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness

"Instead, in a study Dr. Rodman helped design, doctors who were given ChatGPT-4 along with conventional resources did only slightly better than doctors who did not have access to the bot. And, to the researchers’ surprise, ChatGPT alone outperformed the doctors.

“I was shocked,” Dr. Rodman said.

The chatbot, from the company OpenAI, scored an average of 90 percent when diagnosing a medical condition from a case report and explaining its reasoning. Doctors randomly assigned to use the chatbot got an average score of 76 percent. Those randomly assigned not to use it had an average score of 74 percent.

The study showed more than just the chatbot’s superior performance.

It unveiled doctors’ sometimes unwavering belief in a diagnosis they made, even when a chatbot potentially suggests a better one."

Matt Gaetz Withdraws from Attorney General Consideration amid Ethics Scandal; National Review, November 21, 2024

JAMES LYNCH , National Review; Matt Gaetz Withdraws from Attorney General Consideration amid Ethics Scandal

"Former Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) is withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, he announced Thursday.

Gaetz said that the Ethics Committee investigation into allegations he paid underage women for sex had become too much of a distraction as President-elect Trump works to staff his incoming administration."

Republicans Target Social Sciences to Curb Ideas They Don’t Like; The New York Times, November 21, 2024

Vimal Patel , The New York Times; Republicans Target Social Sciences to Curb Ideas They Don’t Like

"The slashing of core classes across the state, which has often been based on course titles and descriptions, is meant to comply with a state law passed last year that curbed “identity politics” in the curriculum. The law also bars classes from the core that “distort significant historical events” or that include theories that “systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States.”

AI task force proposes ‘artificial intelligence, ethics and society’ minor in BCLA; The Los Angeles Loyolan, November 18, 2024

Coleman Standifer, asst. managing editor; Grace McNeill, asst. managing editor , The Los Angeles Loyolan; AI task force proposes ‘artificial intelligence, ethics and society’ minor in BCLA

"The Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (BCLA) is taking steps to further educate students on artificial intelligence (AI) through the development of an “artificial intelligence, ethics and society," spearheaded by an AI task force. This proposed addition comes two years after the widespread adoption of OpenAI's ChatGPT in classrooms.

Prior to stepping into his role as the new dean of BCLA, Richard Fox, Ph.D., surveyed BCLA’s 175 faculty about how the college could best support their teaching. Among the top three responses from faculty were concerns about navigating AI in the classroom, Fox told the Loyolan.

As of now, BCLA has no college-wide policy on AI usage and allows instructors determine how AI is — or is not — utilized in the classroom.

“We usually don't dictate how people teach. That is the essence of academic freedom," said Fox. “What I want to make sure we're doing is we're preparing students to enter a world where they have these myriad different expectations on writing from their faculty members.”

Headed by Roberto Dell’Oro, Ph.D., professor of theological studies and director of the Bioethics Institute, the task force met over the summer and culminated in a proposal for a minor in BCLA. The proposal — which Dell'Oro sent to the Loyolan— was delivered to Fox in August and now awaits a formal proposal to be drawn up before approval, according to Dell’Oro.

The minor must then be approved by the Academic Planning and Review Committee (ARPC), a committee tasked with advising Provost Thomas Poon, Ph.D., on evaluating proposals for new programs.

According to the proposal, the proposed minor aims “to raise awareness about the implications of AI technologies, emphasize the importance of ethical considerations in its development and promote interdisciplinary research at the intersection of AI, ethics, and society.

The minor — if approved by the APRC — would have “four or five classes,” with the possibility of having an introductory course taught by faculty in the Seaver College of Science and Engineering, according to the proposal.

Most of the sample courses in the proposal include classes rooted in philosophy and ethics, such as, “AI, Robots, and the Philosophy of the Person,” “Could Robots Have Rights?” and “Introduction to Bioethics.” According to Dell’Oro, the hope is to have courses available for enrollment by Fall 2025."

OpenAI accidentally deleted potential evidence in NY Times copyright lawsuit; TechCrunch, November 20, 2024

 Kyle Wiggers , TechCrunch; OpenAI accidentally deleted potential evidence in NY Times copyright lawsuit

"OpenAI tried to recover the data — and was mostly successful. However, because the folder structure and file names were “irretrievably” lost, the recovered data “cannot be used to determine where the news plaintiffs’ copied articles were used to build [OpenAI’s] models,” per the letter.

“News plaintiffs have been forced to recreate their work from scratch using significant person-hours and computer processing time,” counsel for The Times and Daily News wrote. “The news plaintiffs learned only yesterday that the recovered data is unusable and that an entire week’s worth of its experts’ and lawyers’ work must be re-done, which is why this supplemental letter is being filed today.”

The plaintiffs’ counsel makes clear that they have no reason to believe the deletion was intentional. But they do say the incident underscores that OpenAI “is in the best position to search its own datasets” for potentially infringing content using its own tools."

‘Black mark’: Lawmakers seethe over Ethics’ Gaetz report imbroglio; Politico, November 20, 2024

JORDAIN CARNEY, NICHOLAS WU, DANIELLA DIAZ and OLIVIA BEAVERS, Politico ; ‘Black mark’: Lawmakers seethe over Ethics’ Gaetz report imbroglio

"Matt Gaetz is plunging the House into chaos, again.

Members of the House Ethics Committee deadlocked over whether to release the findings of an investigation into the former Florida lawmaker, who is Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. The inaction is triggering outrage among Democrats, who argue the committee is dragging out the process, while Republicans remain furious that Gaetz put them in this position...

The havoc is the latest illustration of how Trump’s looming return to Washington is shaking the foundations of Capitol Hill and forcing Republican lawmakers to make a series of immediate, high-stakes calls about the integrity of the legislative branch."

Trump’s education pick once incorrectly claimed to have education degree; The Washington Post, November 20, 2024

Beth Reinhard

, 

Aaron Schaffer

 and 

Laura Meckler

, The Washington Post; Trump’s education pick once incorrectly claimed to have education degree

"Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as education secretary, incorrectly claimed in 2009 that she had a bachelor’s degree in education on a questionnaire for a Connecticut Board of Education post, according to news reports at the time.

McMahon received a bachelor’s degree in French and a teaching certificate from East Carolina University, according to her alma mater’s announcement that she would deliver the 2018 commencement speech.

The error on the questionnaire was reported by the Hartford Courant during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She said at the time that she mistakenly thought her degree was in education because she did a semester of student teaching, and that she had written to the governor’s office the previous year to correct the error after another newspaper noticed the mistake.

McMahon resigned from the state education board one day after the Courant told her it intended to write about the error, the paper reported, but McMahon said the timing was unrelated. The state education board could not immediately fulfill a request to provide a copy of the questionnaire and other correspondence Wednesday morning, but the Trump transition team did not dispute that the error occurred."

What 23andMe Owes its Users; The Hastings Center, November 18, 2024

 Jonathan LoTempio, Jr,, The Hastings Center; What 23andMe Owes its Users

"In the intervening years, 23andMe has sent you new findings related to your health status. You wonder: Is my data protected? Can I get it back?

There are protections for users of 23andMe and other direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. Federal laws, including the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and the Affordable Care Act, protect users from employment and insurance discrimination. Residents of certain states including California have agencies where they can register complaints. 23andMe, which is based in California, has a policy in line with California citizens’ new right to access and delete their data. European residents have even more extensive rights over their digital data.

American users can rest assured that there are strong legal mechanisms under the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. that can block foreign acquisition of U.S. firms on national security grounds. For certain critical sectors like biotech, the committee may consider, among other factors, whether a proposed transaction would result in the U.S. losing its place as a global industry leader as part of its review.

Any attempt by a foreign company to acquire 23andMe would be subject to a CFIUS review and could be blocked on national security grounds, particularly if the foreign company is headquartered in a “country of special concern” such as China, Russia, or Iran. As for acquisitions by U.S. companies, the legal landscape is a bit more Wild West. Buyers based in the U.S. could change policies to which users agreed long ago, in a world rather different than ours.

November 2024: With a new board the immediate crisis at 23andMe has been averted. However, long-term concerns remain regarding potential buyers and how they might respond to 23andMe’s layoffs and shuttering of its drug development arm, both of which suggest instability of the company. 23andMe and other DTC genetic testing companies should consider what they owe their users.

One thing they owe users is to implement a policy that, in the case of a sale, the companies will notify users multiple times and in multiple ways and give them the option of deleting their data."

Indian news agency sues OpenAI alleging copyright infringement; TechCrunch, November 18, 2024

 Manish Singh, TechCrunch; Indian news agency sues OpenAI alleging copyright infringement

"One of India’s largest news agencies, Asian News International (ANI), has sued OpenAI in a case that could set a precedent for how AI companies use copyrighted news content in the world’s most populous nation.

Asian News International filed a 287-page lawsuit in the Delhi High Court on Monday, alleging the AI company illegally used its content to train its AI models and generated false information attributed to the news agency. The case marks the first time an Indian media organization has taken legal action against OpenAI over copyright claims.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Justice Amit Bansal issued a summons to OpenAI after the company confirmed it had already ensured that ChatGPT wasn’t accessing ANI’s website. The bench said that it was not inclined to grant an injunction order on Tuesday, as the case required a detailed hearing for being a “complex issue.”

The next hearing is scheduled to be held in January."

Library and Information Science: The fight continues; Library Journal, October 23, 2024

 J.B. Levine, Library Journal; Library and Information Science: The fight continues

"Keeping up with the constantly changing technological and information landscape has presented a major challenge to the field of library science. But the ongoing fight for intellectual freedom presents an even bigger challenge—and a more insidious one, that goes to the very heart of librarianship and its enduring values.

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented, well-funded, and well-organized attack on intellectual freedom,” says Don Hamerly, professor and director, Dominican University School of Information Studies (SOIS). “The fundamental core values, ethics, and competencies that MLIS programs teach have not changed, but the world of information changes in dramatic and unpredictable ways that challenge the ability of librarians and other information professionals to exercise professionally what they learn in their graduate programs.”

The role of libraries—and librarians—is transforming. Since their extended societal role in their communities during the pandemic, librarians have been at the forefront of the “culture wars,” helping patrons learn how to access information they can trust, mentoring and helping them improve their digital and information literacy skills, and advocating for informational and intellectual freedom.

As the information landscape continues to evolve, the programs that are training library professionals must as well. “MLIS programs must prepare our future LIS professionals for this period of rapid change by grounding them in the core democratic values of the field and empowering them with robust and agile skills to meet the broader array of community and individual demands,“ says Anthony Chow, PhD, Director and Full Professor, San Jose State University School of Information.

Here are some of the leading library and information science (MLIS) master’s degree programs that are stepping up to meet these challenges."

Book Bans Harm Kids; Scientific American, November 19, 2024

THE EDITORS , Scientific American; Book Bans Harm Kids

"Books are a gift, opening a door to the wide world. But not if you live in one of the U.S. communities where local school boards or state officials have cast certain books as scary monsters that harm children with words and ideas.

Organized conservative groups in many communities are censoring books from school and public libraries, claiming that some themes aren’t age-appropriate for children, never mind the context. They target books on health, climate change, psychology, and other science they find distasteful or antithetical to their way of thinking. They try to criminalize teachers and librarians who dare to give kids a chance to indulge their curiosity. Under the guise of protecting children from harm, they vow to defund public libraries and alter school curricula.

But it’s the book bans themselves that cause the most harm, robbing youngsters of opportunities to think critically, explore ideas and learn about experiences different from their own. The people responsible for moving books from classrooms and library shelves are trying to limit the flow of information. Their efforts aim to un­dermine democracy; they would create an electorate of young people who will not question authority, build alliances with people who have less political power, or challenge the status quo. Knowledge is power. Book bans go against the very nature of an open, civil society. Whether through the legal system, the ballot box or our voices, we must uphold educational freedom and support knowledge. We must stop the censoring of books.

Censorship has a shameful history in the U.S. The infamous 1873 Comstock Act made it illegal to mail works considered to be obscene, such as pamphlets about birth control. James Joyce’s Ulysses was banned in the country in the 1920s, and the U.S. Postal Service burned copies. More re­­cent­ly, conservatives have bowdlerized the history and science children learn in schools, altering depictions of slavery, rejecting textbooks that reference climate change and challenging evolution...

Some teachers are keeping canceled books in secret drawers. Some schools in more open districts are introducing the idea of reading clubs focusing on banned books. Librarians are questioning what they are allowed to put on shelves instead of promoting what’s there. Parents who want their kids to have a thorough education are trying to fight back against well-funded and politically motivated advocates of book bans.

The kids who can are speaking up for books and libraries. It is up to us to help them, as well as the ones who can’t. Book bans are antithetical to free speech and free thought. They are antidemocratic, antiscience and antievidence. Reading this editorial with no one looking over your shoulder is your fundamental right. Our children deserve the same."

Florida again argues books ban are 'government speech,' not prohibited by First Amendment; Tallahassee Democrat, November 19, 2024

 Douglas Soule, USA TODAY NETWORK via Tallahassee Democrat; Florida again argues books ban are 'government speech,' not prohibited by First Amendment

"In yet another case, Florida's government is arguing that book removals in public schools are "government speech," meaning they are unrestricted by the First Amendment.

It's a controversial legal argument, which free speech advocates have called "authoritarian," but one that the state has been particularly passionate about over the last year. Attorney General Ashley Moody's office even recently sent a representative to make it on behalf of a Texas community's public library...

The state's defense of the law and the book removal decisions by school districts goes beyond the government speech argument. It also argues that governments don't even have an obligation to "provide benefits" such as school libraries."

How to bridge our political divide? A pastor's answer: Do unto others; NPR, November 19, 2024

Frank Langfitt , NPR; How to bridge our political divide? A pastor's answer: Do unto others

"Some parishioners say the Do Unto Others message has helped them manage relationships with people who have different views...

Pastor Chris knows it's challenging to lead a big-tent church in such fraught times. He says the Do Unto Others program isn't about calling out sides or making statements about anyone's morality.

"Outside of the pulpit. I personally will stand up for what I think is right and what I think is wrong, and I have done those things," Morgan says. "My job as a pastor when I am preaching is to help people grow in their faith and become as much like Jesus as we can."

Morgan says a key to the campaign for kindness is to recognize we can't control what others say or do, but we can control how we respond."

How Trump sent me to church; The Ink, November 18, 2024

BRIAN MONTOPOLI, The Ink; How Trump sent me to church

"This time, Donald Trump’s triumph cannot be written off as a fluke, or the result of our flawed electoral system. Voters knew exactly who Trump was, and they still awarded him what is poised to be a (narrow) victory in the popular vote. But even if Trump doesn’t have an overpowering mandate, our fellow Americans chose the candidate of division, demonization, and weaponizing the government against his political opponents. Adam Serwer has argued that the cruelty was the point. And we, as a nation, chose the cruelty.

Faced with that hard truth, many may be tempted to write off our neighbors, throw up their hands, and turn inward. We can see evidence of this playing out: Unlike in 2016, people are not pouring into the streets to protest the incoming administration. Instead, they are largely staying in their bubbles, scrolling on their screens, and trying not to think too hard about the potential horrors to come.

But retreating into ourselves will only make things worse.

Which is why, the other night, I decided to go the other way the other day. To go, in fact, to church.

Doing so was my small way of pushing back on trends that are ominous and have the potential to make the next Trump presidency even more dangerous."

How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world; The Guardian, November 17, 2024

Carole Cadwalladr, The Guardian ; How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world

"In the wake of Trump’s unnerving appointees, the investigative journalist and veteran of the libel court offers pointers on coping in an age of surveillance"

Cuban citizen convicted in U.S. streaming piracy scheme; UPI, November 16, 2024

 Mike Heuer , UPI; Cuban citizen convicted in U.S. streaming piracy scheme

"A federal jury in Las Vegas found Yoany Vaillant guilty of conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement for his work on behalf of illegal streamer Jetflicks.

Vaillant, 43, is a Cuban citizen and knows 27 computer programming languages, which he used to streamline the subscription-based but illegal Jetflicks content for its subscribers who were located throughout the United States, the Department of Justice announced in a news release Friday...

Jetflicks is headquartered in Las Vegas and claimed to have 183,285 copyrighted episodes of television programming, which is much more than Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and any other streaming services.

Prosecutors provided evidence showing Vaillant and seven co-conspirators scoured pirate sites located around the world to access and download its extensive library of streaming titles without obtaining permission or paying respective copyright holders...

"The vast scale of Jetflicks' piracy affected every significant copyright owner of a television program in the United States," the DOJ said.

The illegal streaming caused "millions of dollars of losses to the U.S. television show and streaming industries," the agency said.

Vaillant was among eight defendants indicted in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in 2019."