U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit today arrested the operator of Channelsurfing.net.

Federal officials charged 32-year-old Bryan McCarthy of Texas with one count of criminal infringement of a copyright. He allegedly posted illegal streams of the UFC, NFL, NBA, WWE and other sports programming.

According to today’s release, McCarthy made more than $90,000 in profits from online merchants who paid him to advertise on the site. Since it was seized on Feb. 1, the site has received 1.3 million hits.

“Today’s arrest is another step forward in the ongoing investigation by New York HSI agents into copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property rights,” James T. Hayes, special agent in charge of HSI in New York, stated. “We will continue to investigate illegal streaming of programming on the Internet in an effort to preserve legitimate and creative business interests and deter others from engaging in online piracy.”

McCarthy, who purchased the domain in 2005, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

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