Sports fans who ‘jailbreak’ an Amazon firestick to illegally stream Premiership football matches or pay-per-view movies could lose their homes if sued for copyright theft, experts have warned.
Dozens of people on Facebook claim to offer firestick logon details with ‘unlimited live channels’ for as little as £40, compared with around £100 a month if someone wants Sky and TNT sports channels along with movies and other extras.
However, streaming such services without paying a licensing fee leaves a homeowner open to possible prosecution, including action in the High Court resulting in potential six figure payouts.
If the case goes to a criminal court, it could lead to substantial jail sentences.
Sports fans watching illegal streams to watch live sports events or movies could potentially lose their homes or face long prison sentences, legal experts have warned
Users can download software on their devices developed by organised crime gangs who employ hackers to illegally bypass subscription paywalls for copyrighted material
In May 2023, a gang of five men running a £7m illegal streaming network were jailed for more than 30 years after their operation was busted.
Several others have also been jailed for operating their own streaming networks, with police knocking on the doors of fans identified as using such services.
Also, people downloading software onto their home networks are at risk of suffering data theft – allowing cyber criminals to view sensitive information.
Some criminal gangs deliberately infect their rivals’ service with malware to lose them custom.
According to the UK Film Council, they estimate that the loss to the film and television industry could be more than £400m a year.
Intellectual property lawyer Samuel O’Toole of Briffa told MailOnline: ‘This is not a “victimless crime”. From an intellectual property is all about copyright.
‘If someone is using a “jailbroken” firestick, they are infringing copyright by viewing content without paying the appropriate licence fee.
Mark Gould, pictured, can be seen sitting in his pyjama bottoms surrounded by crisp packets, shisha pipes and cardboard boxes in May 2018 as investigators search his south London home. He was jailed for 11 years for running a £7m illegal streaming service
Bodycam footage also shows around 30 linked set-top boxes used for the illegal operation piled up at the property
The Flawless on-screen menu, showing matches available on the illegal streaming service
‘Copyrighted material is personal property. It was created and owned by someone and cannot be used without their permission.’
According to Mr O’Toole, breaching copyright is similar to walking into a local convenience store and stealing Mars bars from the counter.
‘Sky is a big corporation. But the copyright owners can only create good content if they are suitably rewarded for their efforts.
‘It is also the law-abiding citizen who is losing out by people illegally streaming content. Sky and other service providers might be in a position to reduce their fees if everyone paid their way.’
People breaching copyright law can face prosecution in either the civil or criminal courts depending on the nature and extent of the offence.
At the top end of the scale, the penalties for breaching can include significant jail terms.
Mr O’Toole believes that without an incentive, creators will no longer produce quality content meaning everyone ends up poorer.
‘If a case goes to a criminal court you could end up with a 10-year prison term. That is a significant penalty.
‘That would be for criminal gangs, the bigger fish and not someone streaming at home. Prison terms will be for people making money out of stealing copyright.
‘Although, the copyright holder could take a home streamer to the Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court. There you could pay £60,000 in costs and if you lose you will pay the other side’s costs and compensation as well.
‘Companies will see if the infringer has money and assets before taking such a case. Pubs and other businesses illegally streaming content can be at risk of this.
‘Pubs and clubs illegally streaming live sports events are at risk of this as the copyright holder will be able to secure a judgement against them for a sum of cash.’
According to Mr O’Toole, this could potentially put someone’s home at risk in the most serious cases.
‘If Sky or another copyright holder sued and secured a judgement for £100,000, they could then seek an order against property or other assets, so it is possible you could lose your house.’
Also, as well as the legal jeopardy illegal streamers face, they are also trusting an organised crime gang with access to your home computer network.
‘A good analogy is that you are inviting a fox into the hen house. Your computers and tablets contain sensitive data. You might use them for online banking or shopping.’
Mr O’Toole suggests you cannot trust a criminal gang with access to your data.
One industry security expert told MailOnline: ‘Unauthorised IPTV services often operate without proper security measures, exposing users to serious data breaches and cyberattacks.
‘Personal information, including credit card details, can be harvested by these rogue platforms, making users vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. The data collected may be sold on the dark web, putting individuals’ privacy at risk.’
On a practical level, the quality of stream is also likely to be suboptimal, with ‘constant buffering issues and frequent service interruptions’.
However experts believe illegal streamers can place themselves in additional jeopardy depending on the actions of the criminal gang supplying the service.
‘Engaging with illicit streaming platforms exposes users to the risk of downloading malware, viruses, and other harmful software. Unsuspecting viewers may unknowingly download malicious files while accessing content through illegal IPTV services.
‘Such infections can severely damage their devices and compromise online security.’
