A man in Wolverhampton has been arrested on suspicion of selling an illegal streaming service.
Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police executed a search warrant at a residential address in Wolverhampton during the early hours of 15 October 2024.
A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of copyright and money laundering offences, after he was suspected to have sold illegal streaming packages in bulk for others to sell to the public. The streaming packages provided illegal access to Sky channels.
Further search warrants were carried out at four business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry. Officers seized a server, which was used to host the illegal streaming service, at one of the addresses and the service was shut down.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, said: “Illegal streaming is a huge issue for the entertainment and creative industries and, while it may seem like a low-risk, high-reward crime, the proceeds are used to fund other serious forms of criminal activity. At the same time, it can expose end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.
“The message of this operation is clear: if you sell illegal streaming services, you will be caught and held to account for your actions.”
Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky, said: “When people illegally stream they provide their personal information to criminals and the risks that result are very real. We are grateful to the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for leading this action. We’ll continue to do everything we can to protect our content from theft, and to help keep consumers safe.”
Officers from PIPCU were supported by West Midlands Police during the search warrants. The man arrested has since been released under investigation.
In a related development the licensee of Cleo’s Bar in Sunderland was fined for illegally screening Sky Sports. Last Tuesday, Kenneth Craigs the Licensee, was found guilty in his absence of two offences related to the dishonest broadcast of Sky televised programming. In this case, Craigs televised Sky Sports football matches, with the intent to avoid payment of the applicable commercial subscription charge. Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in the UK via a commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business.
Craigs, the designated premises supervisor of Cleo’s Bar was ordered to pay total fines and costs of £7,400.
FACT brought the criminal prosecution at South Tyneside Magistrates Court against the licensee, for showing Sky Sports to customers without having valid commercial viewing agreements in place. Business premises that show Sky broadcasts without a commercial viewing agreement risk similar action, or even civil legal action.
