Ninja Video co-founder gets 22 months' porridge

THE 30 YEAR OLD female co-founder of movie streaming service Ninja Video has been sentenced to 22 months in prison in a US District Court.

According to Torrent Freak, Hana Beshara, known online as Phara, will spend 22 months in federal prison followed by two years' probation and 500 hours of community service after being sentenced for conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement.

In 2010, US law enforcement targeted nine web sites connected to alleged copyright infringement, of which Ninja Video was one. The project is called Operation In Our Sites.

Originally five people were arrested in connection with Ninja Video, one of whom was Beshara, but it took until September 2011 for them to be indicted by a federal grand jury.

Later that month Beshara pleaded guilty before Judge Anthony J Trenga in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, admitting her role in the founding of Ninja Video in February 2008 and confessing to negotiating agreements with online advertisers. She was sentenced on Friday.

Ninja Video allegedly generated $500,000, with Beshara personally receiving over $200,000. However, she will now have to repay a total of $209,826.95 and forfeit financial accounts and computer equipment. Apparently though, Beshara was quite happy with the sentence.

Ninja Video co-founder and coder Matthew Smith also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement last year, and was due to be sentenced in December 2011, but a delay means he will be sentenced at a later date. µ