UK licensees warned of illegal streaming dangers
September 3, 2021
By Colin Mann
With the football season back in full swing, Sky and UK intellectual property protection body FACT are working together to warn licensees of the dangers of unscrupulous suppliers who may be approaching them with low-cost, but illegal, ways of showing sport in their premises.
“Now that the new Premier League season is in full swing, some venues may be tempted to look elsewhere for live sports content,” notes Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT. “Our advice to them is that there is only one way to legally show Sky Sports programming and that is through a valid commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business.”
“Streaming or sharing unauthorised TV content, film or sports content is illegal. Anyone selling, distributing, or allowing access to content without the permission of the copyright owner is committing a crime. But what licensees need to know is that anyone who is accessing content in this way is also committing a crime. We would like to encourage anyone approached by a supplier attempting to mislead them with illegal systems to report suspected illegal broadcasting confidentially at www.pubpiracy.com,” he added.
“We take illegal use of our programming very seriously because it’s important to ensure our legitimate Sky subscribers are not left short changed,” stated George Lawson, Head of Commercial Piracy at Sky. “Live sport helps bring communities together and with Sky Sports you can continue to bring your customers the best live sport experience with more of the drama and excitement from the sports they want to watch,” he suggested.
Legitimate Sky Business commercial subscribers will see a pint glass icon appear on their TV screen from time to time. This lack of icon can reveal who is showing Sky illegally.