A judge at Warwick Crown Court has given a streamer who illegally provided broadcasts of Premier League games a fine of almost £1 million.
Live broadcasting of football games in all competitions has become a fundamental part of the sport. For instance, the Premier League’s latest TV rights deal with Sky, BT, and Amazon came in at a whopping £4.8 billion. The deal runs to 2025.
However, the cost to fans means that some look to alternative, unlawful means to access the streams. Therefore, live streaming of games on a number of different illegal sites has increased in recent years.
Seeing illegal streaming as a loss of profits and copyright abuse, the Premier League have acted. A few years ago, they partnered with the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and law enforcement. The initiative wanted to reduce the supply of illicit football broadcasts in the UK.
As a result, several people have been arrested for distributing and providing such streaming services.
Imprisoned Premier League streamer fined
In March 2019, Steven King received a prison term of seven years and four months after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud. He ran a host of companies providing fraudulent streaming of Premier League matches, known as Dreambox.
King and his business partners, Paul Rolston and Daniel Malone, are believed to have earned over £5 million from their services.
Earlier this week, Mr. King returned to court. He must now forfeit the profits he made from his Premier League streamer days. The defendant must pay back £963,000 within three months, according to The Mirror. If he fails to do so, Mr. King’s sentence will increase by a further six years and eight months.
Unsurprisingly, the Premier League welcomed the Judge’s ruling.
Reaction to fine
The English top flight’s general counsel, Kevin Plumb, gave the league’s reaction to the hefty fine.
“This result clearly shows that supplying illegal streams is a criminal offence leading to prison sentences and significant financial consequence,” said Plumb, quotes from The Guardian.
“We are pleased the courts have recognised the seriousness of piracy-related crimes. The Premier League has requested all money recovered goes back to public bodies. This includes law enforcement agencies, to help them continue the fantastic work they do in helping bring people like this to justice.”
Mr. Plumb then suggested the Judge’s ruling should be a warning to others.
“The vast majority of our fans watch Premier League action via authorised sources. But for those who don’t, they must be aware this is not only an illegal activity that can lead to custodial sentences. They also risk becoming victims of hacking and fraud.
“We will continue to work with law enforcement to tackle piracy of our content and to educate fans on the dangers of watching matches via unauthorised streams.”
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