THREE men have been arrested for distributing illegal Fire Sticks that allow households to watch Sky and other premium content for free.
The arrests form part of a UK-wide crackdown on illegal streaming and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) rings, which has intensified in recent months.
In one of the largest deterrence operations from police and media companies to date, 40 illegal IPTV operators have been found, investigated, and served with official warnings.
Cease-and-desist notices were delivered in person, through post and email by FACT, the UK’s IP protection organisation, and police.
FACT CEO Kieron Sharp, a former City of London Police detective, told The Sun: “This was a planned disruptive exercise for the month of July, so it’s still ongoing.
“We see substantial benefits from these types of operations in terms of getting people to stop their criminal activity.
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“It’s something that we worked on in discussion with our members about how we could do that on a larger scale than we’ve managed before.”
Sharp added: “FACT and our partners are steadfast in our commitment to disrupt these criminal operations.
“This is just the start of our enforcement efforts, with more actions planned.”
What is a ‘jailbroken’ Fire Stick?
When an Amazon Fire Stick is ‘jailbroken’, it means a third-party media server software has been installed on it.
The software most commonly used on Fire Sticks is called Kodi.
It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK.
The government outlined in 2017 that adapted Amazon Fire sticks and so-called ‘Kodi’ TV boxes were illegal.
This is because they breach intellectual property laws in not paying for the media content being watched.
“These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,” the government said at the time.
“They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.”
If users are watching content that would usually be free, however, then they would not be breaking any laws.
FACT partners with Sky, Premier League, TNT Sports, Virgin Media, as well as police, fraud and trading standards bodies to squash illegal streaming.
A 42-year-old man in Nottingham, a 51-year-old man from Widnes and a 52-year-old man in Stockton on Tees were arrested this month as part of an investigation into illegal IPTV operations.
The 51-year-old was also held on the possession of Class A drugs.
Jailbroken Amazon FireSticks and other smart TV devices were also allegedly seized from addresses and are currently undergoing forensic examination by FACT.
All three men have since been released while investigations continue.
According to Sharp, who also headed the economic crime team at Interpol, some of the people distributing illegal streaming gadgets are part of wider organised crime circles.
And those paying for pirated IPTV services are only funneling cash into the pockets of more “serious” criminals.
“Some of this has organised crime behind it,” explained Sharp. “Not all of it, but some of it does.”
He added: “There are some very serious criminals doing some very serious work, which is why when we prosecute people they get such long prison sentences as you can see from previous, or very recent as well, cases we’ve sent to court.”
Wider crackdown
Households were issued a “stern warning” in April after an entire illegal TV streaming ring was busted selling Sky and TNT Sports-enabled Fire Sticks.
Two men running the Titan Streams illegal streaming ring were caught selling dodgy streaming gadgets to thousands of people, according to Worcestershire County Council.
Benjamin Yates and Lewis Finch pleaded guilty to illegally supplying IPTV.
The pair were sentenced to a 20 month suspended sentence for 18 months and 250 hours of unpaid work.
A police investigation found that the ring had garnered nearly 4,000 subscribers, earning the duo over £320,000 in three years.
Just a month earlier, one person was arrested and 10 others were interviewed under caution as part of the wider crackdown on modified gadgets.
Detective Chief Inspector Emma Warbey, of the PIPCU in City of London Police, said at the time that “while it may seem like a low-risk, high-reward crime, the proceeds [from illegal streaming] are used to fund other serious forms of criminal activity”.
She added: “At the same time, it can expose end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.”
Those found distributing illegal streams have been hit with fines exceeding £50,000, according to Birmingham Live.
Beyond substantial fines, offenders also face prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Viewers who tune into illegal streams may face less severe fines, but they can still teeter into the low thousands.
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