On August 13, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a judgment against Zachary DeBarr, operator of the illegal streaming service Outer Limits IPTV. Plaintiffs were Amazon Content Services, Apple Video Porgramming, Columbia Pictures Industries, Disney Enterprises, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios and Warner Bros Entertainment; all members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE).
Outer Limits IPTV unlawfully provided subscribers with access to more than 13,000 movie titles, over 3,000 television series, and upwards of 4,000 live channels, including international programming and live sports events. DeBarr, a repeat offender with a long history of piracy, frequently promoted Outer Limits and other illicit services through his YouTube channel.
Original complaint
The original complaint was filed in March 2025 against DeBarr, his company iLockSports LLC, and twn “John Does,” which operated Outer Limits IPTV via multiple Web domains.
According to the March Complaint filed in US District Court in California, Zachary DeBarr had an extensive history of illegally profiting from content theft and has engaged in mass infringement for years. In 2017, he was selling illegally modified Fire TV Stick devices that were used to access a vast library of movies and television shows. Two years later, in 2019, he was reselling subscriptions to two illegal streaming services, Nitro TV5 and Glitch TV, which provided users access to unauthorized content.
In or around March 2020, DeBarr began operating and selling subscriptions to Outer Limits IPTV. Subscribers paid a subscription fee ranging from $20 per month to $200 per year to access this content.
Soon thereafter, the Plaintiffs began sending takedown requests, phone calls and email requests to DeBarr, which DeBarr allegedly ignored. This prompted the lawsuit filed in March and settled here in August.
The current judgment
On August 4, the Court granted the default judgment of $15,000,000 for wilful copyright infringement, followed by an August 8 judgement of $206,293 for attorney fees, plus interest. The defendants are also barred from operating any similar infringing service Cain the future and must transfer software and assets to the plaintiffs.
Further reading
ACE secures $15 million judgment against Outer Limits IPTV operator Zachary DeBarr. Press release August 14, 2025. Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)
ACE files separate law suits against illegal streamers in Pennsylvania, Californa. Article. March 8, 2025. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor
2023 Movie & TV Piracy Trends Worldwide. Research report. 2023. ACE
The American Motion Picture and Television Industry: Creating Jobs, Trading Around the World. Research report. 2021. Motion Picture Association
Why it matters
“The court’s favorable ruling against the operator of a commercial-scale digital piracy service marks a significant step forward in our fight against global piracy,” said Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association. “We welcome the $15 million damages award and the court’s order permanently barring the defendant from further streaming films and TV series without authorization,” she said.
According to research estimates by the Motion Picture Association (linked above), the American film and television industry supports 2.4 million jobs, pays out $186 billion in total wages, and comprises more than 122,000 businesses in all 50 states (92% of which are small businesses employing fewer than ten people).
Online piracy services and their operators pose a serious threat to this creative marketplace. In 2023, there were an estimated 185.6 billion visits to film and television piracy sites globally.
