Mar 282019
Recent raids on pirate TV services across the UK and Europe
Last week police forces in Spain, UK, and Denmark, carried out what is being described as the “largest ever” operation against a pirate IPTV network. Five people have been arrested, accused of crimes including IP violations, fraud, and money laundering. Police carried out 14 simultaneous raids, eight of them in Spain (in Malaga, Madrid and Alicante), four in Denmark, and two in the UK. Five people were arrested and now stand accused of a variety of crimes, from IP offenses to fraud and money laundering. Ten others gave statements to police.
Also last week, three men from the UK have been jailed for a total of 17 years for running a pirate streaming operation. The sentences were handed down after a four-week trial during which they stood accused of defrauding the Premier League while generating more than £5 million in revenues over a decade of operations.
This week, UK police and Trading Standards officers, with assistance from anti-piracy outfit FACT, have conducted raids targeting a pirate TV operation. Shop premises and homes were searched and equipment with an estimated value of £100,000 used to enable the fraud – including an array of computers, servers, set-top boxes – has been seized by the councils. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of fraud.