Streaming service Mobdro – which broadcast illegal live streams of Premier League matches – has been shut down.
The service has illegally streamed live television and video content of a range of different sports. It made content available on smartphones, tablets and smart TVs.
The Premier League’s anti-piracy programme worked alongside numerous other institutions to take down the service. These included the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, the Motion Picture Association, the Spanish police and Europol.
In a statement, Premier League Director of Legal Services Kevin Plumb said: “Mobdro’s criminal enterprise amounted to long-running and large-scale theft.
“These raids show we and our colleagues at ACE are committed to taking action against piracy, regardless of location.
“The protection of our copyright is hugely important to the Premier League and our broadcast partners, as well as the future health of English football.”
The league added that it “continues to fight against piracy of its content, working with broadcast partners and authorities to bring down illegal streams and investigate and prosecute suppliers of illegal streaming devices”.
Over 43 million people were reported to have downloaded the Mobdro app. It also illegally broadcasted LaLiga games.
Premier League faces continued problems with illegal streaming
Illegal streaming has long since been an issue for the Premier League. Those issues have been more prominent in recent years, as technology continues to advance.
In 2018, they announced that two men had been jailed for four-and-a-half years for conspiracy to defraud. They supplied ‘Kodi-type illegal devices’ to view Premier League matches via unauthorised access to Sky Sports, BT Sport and “illegal foreign channels”.
A year earlier, the Premier League had obtained a court order against the streaming of games through Kodi set-top boxes. It allowed them to block the computer servers that powered the streams.
Five of the league’s seven broadcast TV rights packages for the period between 2019-2022 were sold for over £4 billion.
Sky bought the first set of live Premier League TV rights for a comparatively far lower price of £304 million back in 1992, in a five-year deal.
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