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News
UK police raid pirate streaming hub
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City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit ( PIPCU ) operation has led to the arrest of three people who are suspected to have orchestrated the distribution and transmission of thousands of illegally modified TV settop boxes to people worldwide .
Detectives from PIPCU executed a series of dawn raids in August at a business and three residential addresses in the northwest England town of Chorley , Lancashire . Three men have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences . They are currently in custody pending further investigation .
The operation was supported by Lancashire Constabulary and a forensic investigator from the Federation Against Copyright Theft
“ Operations like this remain an integral part of protecting livelihoods .”
( FACT ). Officers recovered approximately 30 servers and set-top boxes which are believed to have been modified with illegal software to enable them access to hundreds of paid for subscription only channels . Some of the channels available on the devices include pay-per-view sports , the latest movies and UK broadcast television only available to UK
licence fee payers . Officers have also found 15 satellite receiving dishes .
The PIPCU investigation established that illegally modified devices were widely available to buy on the Internet . Enquiries then showed that the devices were being marketed as genuine and legitimate for use anywhere in the world , for a yearly fee of around £ 400 .
The PIPCU-led enquiry now continues with support from licensing experts and broadcasters across the globe . “ Our action today will disrupt what we understand to be a significant and highly resourced operation to distribute pirated television on an industrial scale to tens of thousands of people across the globe ,” declared Detective Chief Inspector Peter Ratcliffe , head of PIPCU . “ Operations like this remain an integral part of protecting livelihoods supported by the entertainment industry and the law abiding public who pay for their channels with their hard earned cash .”
“ Furthermore If you make a purchase from a counterfeit or pirate website you put yourself at risk from identity theft ,” he warned . “ Our investigations have identified over 600 people whose personal and payment details have fallen into the wrong hands after they have made purchases on fake websites . In all cases we have informed each individual and provided them with advice on how to stay safe online .”
“ With a multi-agency approach which is driven by intelligence sharing , we will continue to identify and disrupt copyright related criminality . We are working hard to ensure consumers are safeguarded from the threat of financial loss from rip-off deals which provide no guaranteed content and no longevity .”
“ Illegally modified set-top boxes , along with infringing apps and add-ons , have created new opportunities for criminality and piracy . Tackling these threats and the people behind them is one of our highest priorities and therefore today ’ s multiagency action is another great result for law enforcement and the creative industries ,” stated Kieron Sharp , director general of the Federation Against Copyright Theft .
“ We will continue to work with our members and partners , such as the City of London Police , to crack down on those involved in the illegal supply of these boxes so that both the content and its creators are protected ,” he confirmed .
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6 sentenced for Virgin Media STB piracy
Six men have been handed prison sentences for their part in a multi-millionpound piracy ring which allowed thousands of people to watch UK Virgin Media ’ s pay-TV service free of charge . Collectively , the men have been given over 11 years ’ imprisonment , with two men receiving suspended sentences . The ringleader of the fraud , Mahesh Tailor , from the East Midlands city of Leicester , was handed a six-year sentence and banned from being a director of a company for eight years . It was Tailor who found a way to get around the encryption surrounding cable
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TV channels supplied by Virgin Media . He imported thousands of set-top boxes from the Far East , which he then configured and sold on for up to £ 180 (€ 208 ) each . IP protection organisation FACT welcomed what it described as a “ great result ” for its member Virgin Media and the wider creative
industries . “ Illegally modified set-top boxes are defrauding the creative industries of millions of pounds , as well
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as short changing hardworking legitimate customers who pay their monthly subscription fee for pay-for TV services ,” advised a FACT spokeswoman . “ This sentencing is a great result for broadcasters , TV and film rights holders as well as the wider creative industries . It sends a strong warning to anyone involved in TV / film piracy that both the police and the courts take this criminality seriously and will pursue those who break the law to bring them to justice .” “ Fraud costs our customers , our business and the creative industries millions |
of pounds and we thank the Leicestershire Police for bringing this network of criminals to justice ,” said Virgin Media . Detective Constable Amrat Bhagwan from Leicestershire Police said : “ Officers were deployed at various locations across the country and the network was taken down , rendering the boxes useless . When we raided Tailor ’ s home , we found £ 250,000 in cash in various rooms . There were similar amounts held in his business bank accounts .” “ The boxes were imported from the Far East and documentation showed that Tailor claimed that they were satellite receivers and even paid importation tax on them . He did everything in his power to stop himself appearing on the radar .” |
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