Man arrested for selling illegal Sky streaming packages in bulk | British News

A man has been arrested on suspicion of selling illegal streaming packages that gave access to Sky channels.

Officers from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Unit (PIPCU) arrested the 38-year-old early yesterday morning when they executed a search warrant at a house in Wolverhampton.

He was arrested on suspicion of copyright and money laundering offenses after he was suspected of selling illegal streaming packages in bulk so that others could sell them to the public.

Police said further search warrants were executed at four business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry, but the man has since been released pending investigation.

Officials seized a server hosting the illegal streaming service at one of the addresses and the service was shut down.

Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from PIPCU at the City of London Police, said: “Illegal streaming is a major problem for the entertainment and creative industries and although it seems like a low risk, high reward crime, the proceeds are used by others finance serious forms of criminal activity. At the same time, it can expose end users to the risk of data theft, fraud, and malware.

“The message of this action is clear: if you sell illegal streaming services, you will be caught and held accountable for your actions.”

According to BeStreamWise, around one in three people who stream illegally in the UK say they or someone they know has become a victim of fraud or identity theft as a result.

Figures from the Intellectual Property Office show that the annual cost to the economy from counterfeiting and piracy is £9bn.

Furthermore, they are estimated to cost around 80,000 jobs in the UK each year.

Matt Hibbert, group head of anti-piracy at Sky, said: “When people stream illegally, they are giving their personal details to criminals and the resulting risks are very real.”

“We are grateful to the Police Intellectual Property Unit for leading this operation.”

“We will continue to do everything we can to protect our content from theft and help keep consumers safe.”

PIPCU officers were assisted by West Midlands Police in executing the search warrants.

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