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A man has been arrested on suspicion of selling an illegal streaming service.
Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police executed a search warrant at a residential address in Wolverhampton during the early hours of 15 October 2024.
A 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of copyright and money laundering offences, after he was suspected to have sold illegal streaming packages in bulk for others to sell to the public.
Further search warrants were carried out at four business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry. Officers seized a server, which was used to host the illegal streaming service, at one of the addresses and the service was shut down.
According to BeStreamWise, around one in three people who illegally stream in the UK say that they, or someone they know, have been a victim of fraud or identity theft as a result.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, said:
“Illegal streaming is a huge issue for the entertainment and creative industries and, while it may seem like a low-risk, high-reward crime, the proceeds are used to fund other serious forms of criminal activity. At the same time, it can expose end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.
“The message of this operation is clear: if you sell illegal streaming services, you will be caught and held to account for your actions."
The streaming packages provided illegal access to Sky channels.
Figures from the Intellectual Property Office show that the annual loss to the economy through counterfeiting and piracy is £9 billion. In addition, they have been estimated to cost around 80,000 jobs in the UK each year.
Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky, said:
“When people illegally stream they provide their personal information to criminals and the risks that result are very real.
“We are grateful to the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for leading this action.
“We’ll continue to do everything we can to protect our content from theft, and to help keep consumers safe.”
Officers from PIPCU were supported by West Midlands Police during the search warrants.
The man arrested has since been released under investigation.