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High Court approves Premier League crackdown on Kodi streaming piracy

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Mar 092017
 

High Court approves Premier League crackdown on Kodi streaming piracy

Football fans who watch live matches for free via popular Kodi set-top boxes face a crackdown after the High Court approved a Premier League effort to shut down unlicensed streams online.

Mr Justice Arnold approved an order for Britain’s top four broadband providers BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media to block connections to the servers that host pirated streams of matches.

The Premier League is acting with the support of Sky and BT, which each pay millions for every match they broadcast and fear the popularity of Kodi boxes is eroding the value of their spending on exclusive rights. The rivals are paying a total of £5.1bn over three years to show top-flight domestic matches.

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Five arrests in UK in ‘fully loaded’ Kodi streaming box raids

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Feb 082017
 

Five people have been arrested, accused of selling set-top boxes modified to stream subscription football matches, television channels and films for free.

The sale of so-called “fully loaded Kodi boxes” has been called a “top priority” by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact).

The five traders were arrested in early morning raids.

Fact said it believed the suspects had made in the region of £250,000 selling the devices online.
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Sale of pre-loaded XBMC/Kodi devices illegal says EU

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Dec 092016
 

Selling media players with pirate add-ons violates EU law, according to a recommendation from Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona.

He issued the advice in a landmark case over the legality of pre-loaded XBMC/Kodi devices, which are widely sold across Europe. Whether users of these players also liable depends on whether they know that the content is infringing.

Particularly popular are Kodi-powered applications or set-top boxes. While Kodi itself is a neutral platform, there are lots of add-ons available that turn it into a pirate’s heaven.

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High profile Android box seller in the UK arrested.

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Mar 252016
 

The UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit is continuing its crackdown against sellers of piracy-enabled Android TV devices.

In the latest raid, a 38-year-old man was arrested in London, and seized more than 500 alleged ‘pirate’ Android devices.

PIPCU say that its investigation began in February 2016 after a broadcaster complained that modified devices were being sold both on the Internet and from a shop in Walthamstow. Details coming out of PIPCU are scarce but it’s possible that the broadcaster in question was either Sky TV and/or the Premier League, whose content is widely offered for streaming via these kinds of units.

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Satellite TV ‘card sharing’ network shut down by police in Portugal

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Oct 082015
 

An international network illegally distributing TV signals via satellite has been caught and shut down in an operation involving police in Brazil and Portugal.

The Judicial Police and the Brazilian authorities say they have dismantled the international criminal organisation that was dedicated to the unlawful distribution of satellite TV signals through ‘card-sharing*.’
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Is watching UK TV in Spain legal?

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Aug 142015
 

Is watching UK TV in Spain legal?
A question that has confused expats living in Spain for several years.
And the answer is yes and no.
It all depends which UK TV channels, and how you watch them.

Is watching free to air UK TV channels like BBC ITV in Spain legal?

Firstly, the free to air UK TV channels like BBC ITV C4 and Fives.
It is not illegal to watch these channels via satellite direct from the broadcasters.

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UK wants 10 years jail terms for online piracy

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Jul 192015
 

The UK Government has announced a new proposal to increase the maximum jail term for online piracy from two to ten years. According to the authorities longer prison sentences are needed to deter large-scale and commercial copyright infringement on the Internet.

In an effort to deter online piracy the UK Government is proposing to increase the maximum prison sentence for online copyright infringement to ten years.

The current maximum of two years is not enough to deter infringers, lawmakers argue.
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UK Police crackdown on pirated goods (Android TV boxes) on offer on Facebook

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Jun 262015
 

Trading standards officers and police are carrying out a crackdown across England, Wales and Northern Ireland against those who offer pirate and counterfeit products via Facebook.

Interestingly, ‘pirate’ Android boxes have been targeted again, for streaming content illegally.

Facebook accounts are more and more being used as a way to distribute pirated content..

Operated by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team alongside the National Markets Group (with members the BPI, Federation against Copyright Theft and the Alliance for Intellectual Property Theft) Operation Jasper is manned by officers from police and government agencies and is reportedly the largest operation of its type. It is targeted at “criminals” who exploit social media to commit “copyright theft” and sell “dangerous and counterfeit” goods.

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Sky Deutschland card sharing pirates convicted

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Feb 212015
 

Sky Deutschland card sharing pirates convicted

Three criminal cases have issued fines and suspended prison sentences to operators of card sharing servers in Germany.

Card sharing allows illegal access to pay-TV services. These cases related to cardshareing for the Sky Deutschland satellite TV service.

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) reports one case resulted in a suspended prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months plus a fine of €2,000 being imposed on the principal offender of a card sharing operation. The court stated in its decision that the card sharing operation which had 423 users caused damage of €430,000, creating an income of €143,000 for the card sharing server operator and a loss to the fiscal authority of €34,000.

Another case decreed that card sharing activity was computer fraud on a commercial scale; the fraud being committed jointly with the users. The court cases against the users are being handled locally at the place of residence of the users: the first ones have already been concluded with the users being convicted.

Premier League in anti-piracy drive

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Sep 152014
 

Premier League in anti-piracy drive

The English Premier League has signed a new partnership with media protection company Irdeto in the latest move by the top division of English football to protect its intellectual property.

Irdeto will work with the Premier League in a number of areas, including a specific programme to investigate the illegal supply of set-top boxes that allow commercial organisations – including pubs and bars in the UK and overseas – to receive illegal streams of Premier League matches.

The League said the intelligence that Irdeto will provide will enhance its ability to obtain the evidence required to take legal action against suppliers of systems that allow illegal broadcasting of games.

The partnership will also allow the League, working closely with law enforcement organisations worldwide, to pursue actions against the criminal networks that are involved in the distribution of these illegal services.

The Premier League said Irdeto’s international presence will bring a “new dimension” to its anti-piracy work by allowing the League to target illegal suppliers in countries other than the UK.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore added: “It is only through legitimate investment in our broadcasting rights that we can put on a high quality football competition, and support and invest in all levels of English football and beyond.

“Piracy threatens that model and we are confident that our partnership with Irdeto – who have a proven track record in this area – will allow us to evolve and improve the way we guard against that threat for years to come.”

 

source: sportbusiness.com/sport-news/premier-league-partners-irdeto-anti-piracy-drive

Danish police raid 15 homes in card sharing piracy search

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Aug 172014
 

The Danish police in Mid and West Zealand Police searched 15 homes in search of evidence of a card-sharing ring.

The search was carried out on Wednesday, August 13, with the assistance of the National Danish Police Tech Crime Section and took primarily place in Køge municipality and a few addresses in North Zealand.

The searches were carried out at the request of STOP – Nordic Content Protection, an anti-piracy association representing among others Canal Digital and Viasat.

The police said in a statement that the mastermind is living in Køge. He was charged with violation of Penal Code § 299 b paragraph. 6 of particularly serious violations of the Law on Radio and Television Broadcasting, as he illegally distributed encryption codes to 15 recipients.

Beneficiaries risk being fined up to 20,000 kr. For violation of the Act on Radio and Television Broadcasting, as well as a claim of similar size from the pay TV operators.

In the searches, large quantities of illegal encryption equipment was seized.

“Police is looking very seriously at this kind of misuse of IT equipment to illegally gain access to pay-TV,” according to Police Commissioner Niels Kristoffersen of the Department Economic Crime in Central & West Sealand Police, “In the future there will be more actions against this kind of networks, costing TV industry millions each year in lost subscription revenue.
”
The maximum penalty for card sharing is up to one-and-a-half years in prison, in particularly serious cases this could rise to six years in prison.

 

 

source : broadbandtvnews.com/2014/08/15/danish-police-raid-15-homes-in-pirate-search/

Premier League aids police in conviction of men behind illegal streaming site

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Dec 142012
 

A man from Reading has been convicted of a number of copyright offences in relation to the illegal streaming of football matches.

Gary Goodger, aged 24, from Ratby Close, Lower Earley, was found guilty at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, 12 December of one count of communicating a copyrighted work to the public in the course of a business contrary to S.107(2A) of the Copyright, Design & Patents Act 1988.

His accomplice, Jack Bannister, aged 23, from Portal Grove, Burnley, Lancashire, was found guilty of transferring criminal property contrary to S.327(1)(d) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, after he was hired by Goodger to process payments from the copyright offences.

Goodger was the operator of a website called “freelivefooty” that made unauthorised broadcasts of live Barclays Premier League football matches to subscribers worldwide. Goodger took the matches illegally from foreign satellite broadcasts using a two-metre satellite dish, seven computers and nine satellite decoder boxes at his home.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) commenced an investigation on behalf of the Premier League, a FACT member, and supplied evidence to the Thames Valley Police Economic Crime Unit (ECU), who arrested Goodger and Bannister in November 2010.   Numerous “cease and desist” notices had been sent to the website on behalf of the Premier League but Goodger’s activities continued.

Investigations showed that Bannister had processed the money through his PayPal account.

Both men were subsequently charged on 27 June 2011 and found guilty after a six-day trial.   Both men will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on 25 January 2013.

Det Con Lisa Child, from Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “Goodger is believed to have made tens of thousands of pounds through illegally streaming football matches to subscribers to his website, although no exact figure is available due to the complexity of the investigation.

“We will now be looking to take action under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover some of the cash he made illegally.”

Kieron Sharp, FACT Director General, said: “This is a groundbreaking case, proving conclusively that operating a website that rebroadcasts copyrighted works without permission is a criminal offence.  It is also clear that those running such sites are doing so for profit and running businesses off the back of others’ work.”

A Premier League spokesman added: “This case yet again shows that broadcasting Premier League copyright protected footage without authorisation can lead to a criminal conviction.

“The Premier League is based on a high-investment model, driving fan demand by providing football that people want to watch. Our clubs acquire and develop talented players, play matches in fantastic facilities, invest in other leagues and make significant contributions to good causes.

“The whole industry benefits and copyright infringement threatens that entire model. It is encouraging to see the Court recognise that with this judgment.”

source: premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/premier-league-helps-police-convict-on-illegal-streaming.html

Danish police shut cardsharing website

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Dec 082012
 

Police in Denmark has closed down the cardsharing.dk website, for the first time confiscating the domain itself.

The website has long been a thorn in the side of local pay-TV operators Canal Digital and Viasat. The site had offered ‘pirate’ subscriptions to the platforms through so-called card sharing over the internet.

The public prosecutor for serious economic crime said this was the first time that police had taken over a domain in connection with a criminal case.

In order to carry it out it was necessary for the attorney general to ask a court for approval in transferring the domain.

The case came to the attention of the authorities following the intervention of the pan-Nordic anti-piracy organization STOP.

Separately, the Swedish culture minister Lena Adelsohn Roth says the government there intends to introduce legislation making it illegal to watch pay-TV without paying the fee.

It intends to make devices for unpaid reception of pay-TV channels illegal.

Card sharing networks are already illegal in Sweden.