ILLEGAL streaming services used by thousands have been shut down in the latest effort against dodgy TV boxes.
Anti piracy chiefs have warned that the fresh crackdown “is not scaremongering” after turning up at more than a dozen households.
While serious action has largely focused on those behind these illegal sites, users have been warned of the hidden dangers they face for using them.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) – backed by Sky, the Premier League and others – issued legal notices to 13 alleged IPTV operators across Ireland alone urging them to shut up shop or risk a criminal prosecution.
There were knocks at the door to people living in Dublin, Cork, Donegal, Offaly, Limerick, Louth, Clare, Westmeath and Laois.
This is the fourth wave of enforcement action to date since March 2023, and has resulted in the closure of almost 70 illegal services across Ireland.
Experts have warned anyone using illegal streaming platforms that they’re at “real risk” of devastating crime such as identity theft.
“Together with our partners we will continue to identify and take action against Illegal IPTV service providers,” said Kieron Sharp, Chairman of FACT.
“They are breaking the law, making criminal profits and putting consumers at real risk of malware, data loss and identity theft.
“We want to protect consumers from these risks and operations such as this ensure the message goes out.
“It is not scaremongering; these are real criminal actions which consumers and their families are exposed to.
“These investigations and operations will continue this new year.”
The action comes days after similar anti piracy efforts stepped up a level across the pond.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) recently filed two separate federal US lawsuits against alleged IPTV operators located in California and Pennsylvania.
The first is accused of running Outer Limits IPTV while the other is alleged to be behind a number of services including Beast Mode Live, GreenWing Media, Viking Media, BTV, Shrugs, and Zing.
“These lawsuits demonstrate ACE’s unwavering commitment to protecting the creative industry from digital piracy from coast to coast and around the world,” said Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the Motion Picture Association.
“Illegal IPTV services not only harm creators and legitimate streaming platforms but also expose consumers to potential security and fraud risks. We will continue to take decisive legal action to shut down these operations and hold infringers accountable.”
GLOBAL CRACKDOWN
Last year, a major series of raids across Europe took place leading to a huge network used by 22million people being shut down.
Five addresses in the UK were stormed, along with suspects in Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
The biggest part was carried out in Italy, where 270 officers searched 89 properties in 15 Italian regions.
Nick Herm, chief operating officer at Sky, recently warned that illegal viewing of its subscription content was costing “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
He accused tech giants including Amazon of failing to tackle the problem, saying modified Fire Sticks “probably” make up “about half of the piracy” in the UK.
Warning over 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks
Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it.
The software most commonly used is called Kodi.
It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK.
But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free.
It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as “fully-loaded” – a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels.
“These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,” the government said at the time.
“They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.”