A fresh warning for users of dodgy Fire Sticks and illegal TV boxes has been issued after five gang members were ordered to pay £3.75million or face years more behind bars.
Police busted a major organised crime operation providing people with the illegal means of watching sport and streaming films and TV shows back in 2021 and the ringleader, Mark Gould, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
This week, Derby Crown Court ordered Gould and four others in the gang to give back the profits generated from their crimes in the world’s biggest piracy case of its kind.
It has prompted top investigators and the Premier League to issue new warnings against those thinking of committing similar crimes, pointing to the ‘record prison sentences and the size of the confiscation orders’ as a deterrent.
The total sought by the court is £3.75m, with Gould alone told to forfeit £2.35m within the next three months or face another decade in prison.
Between them, the other members of Gould’s group were told to pay back £1.4million or also have their sentences extended.
FACT – seen here visiting the home of an illegal streamer – represent the UK’s pay-TV broadcasters and rights owners. A new warning of a crackdown has been issued
The judge in the case described Gould as the driving force behind the organised illegal streaming service called Flawless TV.
At their peak, they had 30 employees serving more than 50,000 customers and are said to have made £7m in their five years of operating up until 2021.
Following an extensive investigation started in 2017, the group were heavily punished.
Any cash recovered from the criminals would be split in half between the Treasury and authorities charged with rooting out the practice of illegal streaming.
Use of ‘dodgy’ fire sticks allowing viewers to stream sport, films and a huge number of streaming channels without paying the subscription is on the rise and the authorities are keen to make clear the scale of punishment if users are caught.
The Premier League director of legal, Stefan Sergot told the BBC: ‘These confiscation proceedings demonstrate our determination to ensure those involved in providing illegal streaming services do not retain the profits from their criminal activity.
‘The sentences handed down, and the funds confiscated in these proceedings, vindicate the efforts made to bring these individuals to justice and reflect the severity and extent of the crimes.’
And Doug Love, Principal Trading Standards Investigator at Hammersmith & Fulham Council told them: ‘Anyone tempted to commit similar offences should be deterred by the record prison sentences and the size of the confiscation orders in this case.’
Around 59 per cent of UK Fire Stick owners admit to using the device to watch illegal streams
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Most British sports fans think it’s fine to illegally stream live action, according to an industry report that was published in January.
With football rights fragmented across multiple broadcasters, fans could be asked to shell out more than £1,350 each year to watch games on TV when Paramount+ starts broadcasting the Champions League in 2027.
While there are not any official figures for the number of people using ‘dodgy’ Fire Sticks, the estimate nationally is five million.
If someone is found guilty of using illicit device to stream, they could face criminal charges under Section 11 of the 2006 Fraud Act.
Anyone found guilty of such an offence could be fined heavily or face a prison sentence up to five years.
Those who have not distributed illegal Fire Sticks but still use them to avoid paying subscriptions for the likes of Sky and TNT Sport will face less severe action but could still be fined thousands and face up to a year in prison.
