A man has been arrested on suspicion of selling illegal streaming packages which provided access to Sky channels.
Officers from the police intellectual property crime unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police arrested the 38-year-old while executing a search warrant at a home in Wolverhampton early yesterday morning.
He was detained 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, police said, but the man has since been released under investigation.
Officers seized a server, which was used to host the illegal streaming service, at one of the addresses and the service was shut down.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from 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.’
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.
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 about 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.
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‘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 while executing the search warrants.
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