May 18th 2024.
A man was recently sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for making over £1,000,000 from an illegal Premier League streaming scheme. Steven Mills, a 58-year-old from Shrewsbury, ran this illicit operation for five years through a private Facebook group with over 30,000 subscribers. His customers were sold 'Firesticks', which allowed them to watch live top-flight matches.
The Premier League, along with West Mercia Police and anti-piracy organization FACT, were able to identify at least 1,000 of Mills' customers. This sophisticated operation involved setting up under multiple aliases, posting cash to suppliers, and using Virtual Private Networks to avoid detection. In addition to the fraud charges, Mills was also convicted for personally watching the illegal content he was supplying to others.
Mills' service, operating under the names Pikabox and Eyepeeteevee, provided UK-based customers with a custom app and streaming devices, including Firesticks, for a variety of sports and entertainment content. The Premier League described this operation as "sophisticated" and took significant measures to conceal their activity.
During the trial, it was revealed that Mills had earned more than £1million from this illegal service. The judge also noted that Mills had created tutorial videos that helped his customers access the illegal content. The operation also involved a network of resellers who were investigated by authorities.
Police and FACT officials visited several customers who had paid for the service and served them with notices to cease their illegal streaming activities immediately. This highlights the severity of piracy-related offenses and the consequences that come with them. Kevin Plumb, of the Premier League, emphasized the importance of raising awareness about the dangers and criminality associated with using illegal streaming services.
Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT, also spoke out about the severity of piracy and the importance of safeguarding broadcast rights. Detective Inspector Matt McNelis from West Mercia Police praised the collaborative effort between law enforcement and industry partners in bringing down this criminal operation.
As the Premier League final game between Arsenal and Everton approached, fans were warned about the consequences of watching games illegally. The police intellectual property crime unit had reportedly stepped up their efforts to tackle illegal streaming. This warning comes after a man from London was sentenced to 20 months in prison for making £247,552 from his illegal streaming scheme. The crackdown on illegal streaming continues as a fraud gang was recently jailed for pocketing £7,000,000 by selling illegal subscriptions for access to watch every Premier League game online.
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