The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police executed a week of action, carrying out interviews across the country as part of a crackdown on the supply of illegal streaming services, with a focus on individuals selling modified Fire Sticks. The operation, in conjunction with FACT and the Premier League, targeted […]

A man who made over £200,000 (€229,500) by reselling an IPTV service that enabled people to watch premium television content without a subscription has been jailed for five years. Mark Brockley, from Liverpool in the northwest of England, made £237,000 by selling subscriptions that enabled the illegal streaming of content hosted by BT Sport, including […]

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police and its partners have executed a series of raids across the country as part of a crackdown on the supply of illegal streaming services. Officers searched four premises in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stoke and four people were arrested on suspicion of involvement […]

The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police and anti-piracy agency Web Capio have seized domains that illegally hosted copyrighted content by YouTube supergroup the Sidemen. The domains, somuchcontent.com and sidemencommunity.co.uk, were linked to a site that hosted videos by the Sidemen, including those only available to watch with a subscription. […]

Throughout January 2023, UK intellectual property protection organisation FACT and police are visiting homes across the UK, serving notices to individuals to cease illegal streaming activities with immediate effect and informing users of the associated risks, which include criminal prosecution. Over 1,000 individuals have been identified following raids by West Mercia Police in the UK […]

A man who made over £2 million (€2.3m) by selling set-top boxes that enabled buyers to watch premium television content without a subscription has been jailed. Halton Mark Anthony Powell, of Hornchurch in east London, launched Droidsticks Ltd. in 2013 and sold the set-top boxes through his shop, website and an online marketplace. An investigation […]

A new unit set up to tackle intellectual property fraud in the north west of England has already seized £1.7 million (€1.98m) worth of fake goods, including clothes, electricals and fireworks. The City of London Police, the lead force for fraud, has partnered with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO)and the North West Regional Organised Crime […]

Seizure warrants have been executed against three domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works in support of a Brazilian-led takedown of digital piracy sites there, dubbed ‘Operação 404’ [Operation 404]. The coordinated federal law enforcement operation targeted online services that provided illegal copies of copyrighted works, including […]

Trading Standards Scotland, Police Scotland and the City of London’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) have joined forces to target a major illegal distributor of premium TV content. The distributor, based in the West of Scotland, is believed to have provided illegal access to premium TV, sports and movie content to dozens of separate […]