TV Piracy Bust: IPTV Streamer Arrested, Pub Owner Fined

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UK authorities have struck two major blows against illegal TV streaming and broadcasting this week. In Wolverhampton, police arrested a man suspected of running a large-scale operation selling unauthorised access to premium Sky channels.

Meanwhile, in Sunderland, a pub owner faced substantial fines for showing sports content without a proper commercial subscription.

Both cases showcase the ongoing efforts to combat TV piracy across different sectors – but pub owners and IPTV operators are not the only ones at risk, with customers also potentially in danger if they subscribe to illegal services.

The Raid

During the early hours of October 15, 2024, PIPCU (Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit) officers executed a search warrant at a residential address in Wolverhampton.

The operation resulted in the arrest of a 38-year-old man on suspicion of copyright infringement and money laundering offences.

Police arresting a hacker
Illustrative Photo

The suspect is believed to have been selling illegal streaming packages in bulk for others to resell to the public, providing unauthorised access to premium Sky channels.

The police action didn’t stop at the residential address. The City of London police carried out further search warrants at four business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry.

During those raids, officers seized a server at one of these locations that was being used to host the illegal streaming service. Following the seizure, the service was promptly shut down.

Wolverhampton IPTV raid servers
Photo: City of London Police

The arrested individual has been released under investigation as inquiries continue.

Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt from PIPCU emphasized the severity of the crime: “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 economic impact is equally staggering. Figures from the Intellectual Property Office reveal that counterfeiting and piracy cost the UK economy £9 billion annually and are estimated to result in the loss of around 80,000 jobs each year.

Illegal Sky Sports Broadcast Leads To A Fine

In another recent case that highlights the ongoing crackdown on illegal broadcasting, a Sunderland pub owner has faced significant fines for showing Sky Sports without a proper commercial subscription.

Sky Sports Plus living room

On October 15, Mr. Kenneth Craigs, the Licensee of Cleo’s Bar in Sunderland, North East England, was found guilty in absentia of two offences related to the dishonest broadcast of Sky televised programming.

Craigs had been broadcasting Sky Sports football matches without paying the required commercial subscription charge.

The South Tyneside Magistrates Court, where FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) brought the criminal prosecution, ordered Craigs to pay total fines and costs amounting to £7,400.

As the designated premises supervisor of Cleo’s Bar, Craigs was held responsible for showing Sky broadcasts without a valid commercial viewing agreement in place.

Sara Stewart, Head of Compliance (Commercial Anti-Piracy) at Sky Business, commented on the case: “Now more than ever, it’s important to protect the investment of our customers. Businesses that show Sky Sports illegally can leave our legitimate Sky subscribers feeling short-changed.”

Stewart added, “We actively visit thousands of venues every season to monitor the games they are showing to help protect hardworking Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.”

IPTV and the Dangers of Illegal Streaming Services

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is the technology powering all streaming services that deliver TV content via the internet.

IPTV on a laptop

While legitimate platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and BBC iPlayer use this technology legally, the term “IPTV” has regrettably become synonymous with illicit streaming operations.

Illegal IPTV services, such as the one recently busted in Wolverhampton, offer unauthorised access to premium content at suspiciously low prices.

These services often exploit modified streaming devices, like “jailbroken” Amazon Fire TV Sticks or tampered Sky boxes, loaded with custom software designed to circumvent normal licensing and subscription models.

Though the temptation of cheap access to premium content is strong, using these services comes with substantial risks. Users may face legal repercussions, expose their devices to malware, or fall victim to financial fraud, as some of these operations serve as fronts for more extensive scams.

It’s important to remember: if a streaming offer seems too good to be true, it most likely is.

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2 thoughts on “TV Piracy Bust: IPTV Streamer Arrested, Pub Owner Fined”

  1. I know its easy to say that if you’re not happy with a streaming service or its cost, then dont subscribe to it. But when you have something like Amazon Prime, who not only expect you to pay for its subscription service, but also have the cheek to charge to remove adverts as an additional extra. However, that doesn’t stop them from promoting/advertising other subscription-based streaming services. I pay £12.99pm for YouTube Premium, purely to remove the adverts, even if I dont take advantage of their online music library. With the cost of living set to increase, it comes as no surprise that more and more people are taking advantage of these illegal IPTV offers, but then, I think to myself ‘Who has the time to watch different content on all these streaming services?’, what with ITVX and BBCiPlayer, Freevee, Tubi being free (subject to advertising). Its bad enough trying to decide what to watch on these channels, let alone indulge in all these other streaming service platforms that offer even more content.

    Reply
    • For premium tv content I only ever subscribe to one service at a time (e.g. subscribe to Netflix when there’s a Netflix series I want to watch and then switch to Now Entertainment when there’s a HBO series I want to watch).

      But if you’re a Football fan you basically have to subscribe to 2-3 services simultaneously due to exclusivity arrangements around different competitions or games, and that gets very expensive. It would be much more consumer friendly (and perhaps lead to less illegal streaming) if the organisations running the competitions sold rights at fixed prices to all interested broadcasters so there were multiple broadcasters covering each game. Consumers could then choose the single broadcaster they prefer and just subscribe to that one, instead of having to subscribe to multiple to do it legally in the current way its done.

      Reply

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