Just moments before boarding a flight at Barcelona Airport, a British fugitive behind a lucrative illegal streaming operation finally ran out of luck.
After evading justice across multiple European countries for nearly two years, the mastermind of a £300,000 IPTV piracy network was apprehended by authorities on June 20 – bringing to a close an international pursuit that spanned three countries.
As passengers queued for their flights, Mark Brockley, 56, found himself surrounded by Spanish police – the final chapter in an extraordinary cat-and-mouse game involving four international law enforcement agencies that stretched from Liverpool to France and across Spain.
The man who once provided thousands of customers with unauthorized access to premium BT Sport football matches, top entertainment channels, and pay-per-view content at suspiciously low prices will now swap his European hideouts for a UK prison cell to begin his five-year sentence.
The aFINITY IPTV Operation
Between 2014 and 2019, Brockley built a lucrative business selling illegal access to premium content, including BT Sport’s (now TNT Sports) coverage of Premier League and Champions League football matches.
The operation first came to light when BT reported a Twitter account (@Infinity_IPTV) advertising premium TV and sports content to followers for just £15 per month – a price point that should raise immediate suspicions when compared to legitimate services.
Investigators discovered Brockley had made over 5,000 sales during his five-year operation, generating around £300,000 in illicit revenue.
Making matters worse, he had failed to declare any income to HMRC since December 2018.
A European Game of Cat and Mouse
Following his initial arrest and charging with fraud and copyright offences at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2021, Brockley was released on police bail.
He subsequently disappeared, failing to appear at multiple court hearings.
This led to the unusual step of sentencing him in his absence in May 2023, when he received a five-year prison term. At the time, police believed he had fled to France with his dog.
The investigation revealed Brockley had been using French bank accounts, but digital enquiries eventually traced him to Spain. In August 2024, he was located and arrested in Girona during a coordinated operation.
In what must have been frustrating for authorities, Brockley was released pending further investigation and appealed his extradition back to the UK.
After being granted bail in Spain, he missed multiple Spanish court hearings, leading to him being listed as wanted by Spanish authorities.
The pursuit finally ended when he was caught at Barcelona Airport attempting to return to the UK.
Part of a Broader Crackdown
Detective Constable Geoff Holbrook from PIPCU said: “This case is a clear example of how PIPCU, together with our national and international partners, will relentlessly pursue those seeking to profit from intellectual property crime.”
Brockley’s case isn’t isolated. We’ve seen several significant convictions targeting illegal IPTV operations across the UK recently:
In January this year, Birmingham resident Gary McNally received a 2-year 9-month sentence for “Each Online” – a technically sophisticated IPTV service running on expensive business-grade broadband costing £420 monthly.
Last November, Liverpool’s Jonathan Edge was sentenced to 3 years 4 months for a Firestick modification operation, notably receiving a separate concurrent sentence specifically for watching illegal streams himself.
And in October 2023, Shrewsbury’s Steven Mills was jailed for 2.5 years for an operation that generated £1 million from over 30,000 subscribers.
How to Spot Dodgy IPTV Services
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is simply the technology that delivers television content over the internet – the same technology used by legitimate services like Netflix, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer.
However, illegal operators have given IPTV a bad name by using this technology to provide unauthorised access to premium content – and the term IPTV has become synonymous with these illegal services.
If you’re being offered premium content at suspiciously low prices (like Sky Sports, Netflix and Disney+ all for a tenner), that’s your first red flag. Legitimate services have to pay for content rights, and those costs get passed on to subscribers.
Be cautious of streaming devices advertised as “fully loaded” or “jailbroken” – these terms typically indicate the device has been modified to access pirated content.
Watch out for services primarily marketed through social media or marketplace listings rather than through their own professional websites or legitimate retail channels.
If the provider requests payment through cryptocurrencies or non-traditional payment methods, they’re likely trying to avoid leaving a financial trail.
Poor customer service, vague terms and conditions, and unprofessional websites are other telltale signs you might be dealing with an illegal operator.
Remember, beyond the legal risks, these services often provide unreliable connections, poor quality streams, and may expose your devices to malware. They can also disappear overnight, taking your subscription payments with them.
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