1,000s have telly cut off as police raid pirate streamers

I LLEGAL TV streaming services thought to supply tens of thousands of subscribers have been disrupted after police raids.

The operation involved Police Scotland, City of London Police’s intellectual property crime unit and trading standards officers,

It is believed the major distributor targeted provided illegal access to premium TV, sports and films to dozens of illegal streaming services, with subscribers across the UK.

Two properties in the West were searched and multiple devices thought to be used for the illegal streaming of TV content were seized.

Police also disabled a significant number of servers.

It follows a series of raids, arrests and convictions in connection with the supply of illegal

‘Determined to crack down’

access to premium TV content around the UK.

Detective Sergeant Ceri Hunt, of the intellectual property crime unit, said: ‘This was a highly organised group which purposely set out to defraud the television, film and sport industry.

‘We took down a significant number of servers, all providing illegal digital content, which demonstrates the scale of this illegal streaming business and the financial impact it was having on the television industry.

‘Together with our partners, we’re determined to crack down on these fraudsters and bring them to justice.’

Chief officer of Trading Standards Scotland Fiona Richardson said: ‘Tackling illicit trade in Scotland is one of the key aims of Scotland’s serious organised crime strategy.

‘Illicit trade can have a serious impact on our communities and offers an opportunity for organised crime groups to profit at the expense of legitimate business.’