News

Three sellers of illegal streaming devices have been jailed for a total of 17 years for conspiracy to defraud; some of the longest sentences ever issued for piracy-related crimes.

The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) has secured the repayment of more than £13,000 from William Marston, a convicted trader, after he had evaded payment for over two years.

Mark Clennell was convicted in his absence of two offences of dishonest reception of a television transmission, with the intent to avoid payment of the applicable charge. FACT brought the criminal prosecution at Sunderland Magistrates Court.

Two licensees have been found guilty of ten offences of dishonest reception of a television transmission by showing Sky Sports to customers without a commercial agreement from Sky.

Following a successful prosecution by FACT, the licensees and company directors responsible for the running of the Prince of Wales in Stafford, the Beaufort Arms in Birmingham and the Pheasant Inn in Wolverhampton have been convicted of 64 offences and ordered to pay a combined total of £327,405 in fines and costs for showing Sky Sports illegally in their premises.

Mr John Haggerty, the owner of Evolution Trading, today appeared in Newcastle Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud and dishonestly obtaining services for another, contrary to the Fraud Act.

A man has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment for selling illegal TV devices and for re-offending, since being prosecuted and sentenced for the same crime in October 2016.

Two suppliers of Kodi-type illegal devices have today each been jailed for four and half years in Newcastle Crown Court after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud. John Dodds [...]

On Tuesday 27th March 2018, Mr Rakesh Patel, Mr Mineshkumer Valgi and Mr Priteche licensees of the Diu Bar, 5 Heather Park Drive, Wembley, HA0 1SL were found guilty in their absence of a collective eleven offences each of dishonest reception of a television transmission by showing Sky Sports to customers without a commercial agreement from Sky.

One of the UK’s leading intellectual property (IP) protection organisations has joined forces with the national police unit which leads the response to tackling IP crime to warn users of the risks of illegal streaming ahead of Saturday’s fight between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker.

Two Teeside licensees of the Cleveland Inn, Middleborough, TS60LX, were found guilty after a trial of six offences each of dishonest reception of a television transmission by showing Sky Sports to customers without a commercial agreement from Sky.

A Staffordshire man who was jailed for 16 months for selling fake DVDs on eBay, has since been ordered to pay back more than half a million pounds. A successful joint investigation by FACT and Staffordshire Trading Standards discovered Foster was buying counterfeit DVDs from China and selling as genuine products on eBay to customers across the world. He was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment in January 2016.