DODGY DEAL Warning over illegal Premier League streaming after two brothers are jailed for a total of 11 years
TWO brothers have been sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison for running an illegal streaming ring that allegedly gave thousands of households cheap access to premium services.
The arrests form part of a wider UK crackdown on illicit internet protocol television (IPTV) streaming, which have intensified in recent months.
Amir Butt, 56, was yesterday sentenced to seven years, after allegedly failing to appear in court.
While his brother Ammar Hussain, 39, was sentenced to four years.
The pair, from Ilford, east London, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud over a seven-year period between August 2012 and March 2019.
Tech & Sat Ltd., Techsat and Tech + Sat were the names the brothers traded under from Butt's home and a shop in Ilford.They are said to have sold annual £200 subscriptions for premium television content, such as the Premier League and Sky, to thousands of households.
It's understood Butt and Hussain were earning hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of revenue.
The were caught out by anti-piracy organisation FACT, which recently helped police conduct their biggest illegal streaming bust to date.
Butt and Hussain were arrested in March 2019 when cash and a significant number of Sky set-top boxes and viewing cards were seized from their addresses.
In a statement, Matt Hibbert, Sky’s Group Director of Anti-Piracy said the sentencing signals the "significant consequences" those involved in illegal streaming ring's face.He added: “We are grateful to FACT and to London Borough of Redbridge Trading Standards for their assistance in tackling what was a brazen illegal streaming operation.
“We will continue to work with partners and law enforcement to protect our content and help keep consumers safe from criminal piracy networks.”
Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT, called the verdict both "a punishment" and "a deterrent to others" who are engaged in similar activities.
Wider crackdown
Three men were arrested in late July for distributing illegal Fire Sticks that allowed households to watch Sky and other premium content for free.
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
Households were issued a "stern warning" in April after another 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.
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.
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