If you’re of a certain age you may remember the bootleg man being the staple of many a black barbershop. Typically running a four-for-$20 deal, he’d allow you to see all the latest movies for the price of a ticket and some popcorn. In recent years the services of the bootleg man have been rendered obsolete with the rise of the Fire Stick. I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve told a friend or relative about a dope new movie only for the response to be “Tight, I’ll catch it on Fire Stick.” Unfortunately for y’all though, those days may soon be coming to an end.
CNN reports that the Department of Justice has arrested two of the main computer programmers behind iStreamItAll and Jetflicks. Darryl Julius Polo, or “djppimp,” as he calls himself online has pleaded guilty to charges that stem from running iStreamItAll. The site had a content library comprised of 118,000 episodes of television and almost 11,000 movies, beating out Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Which, I mean, it’s Amazon Prime. In a separate case, Luis Angel Villarino, who disappointingly doesn’t list his online handle, is being charged for helping operate Jetflicks. Both sites have since been shuttered.
Honestly, this could be a boon for small black businesses. The services those brave men and women provided with only their wits and their Sony Handicams have been sorely missed. As long as a movie ticket costs $15, we will have aunties, uncles and cousins that will refuse to pay for them. They will shell out five bucks to watch Queen and Slim on a burned DVD, though.