GETTY
Illegal football streaming sites have been shut down by Spanish police
Football fans have been warned to watch out where they get their live match coverage from following a crackdown on one major online streaming service.
Spanish police have carried out raids on a Malaga-based internet firm suspected of providing illegal online streams of Premier League football matches.
The ISP, known as “Y Internet”, was shut down by police in Malaga earlier this week as part of a major effort to combat illegal online broadcasting.
POLICIA NACIONAL
The Y Internet boxes provided illegal access to online sports streams and more
The raid was helped by UK firm Irdeto, which detected that Y Internet was providing illegal streams of over 100 international paid-for TV channels.
The company worked alongside Spanish police as part of an investigation launched by the Premier League which looked to crack down on pirated streams of its exclusive content across the world.
An Irdeto investigator told the Police that he went to the store in the shopping centre where the employees showed him the devices and services available.
This included a reception device that was able to decrypt paid-for TV channel broadcasting and a premium subscription purchased for €450 from the store.
Premier League Director of Legal Services Kevin Plumb, said, “The raids conducted by the Spanish authorities, supported in this case by Irdeto’s expertise, are a positive example of law enforcement taking piracy and IP infringement seriously.”
“This approach is essential for organisations like the Premier League – and other creative industries – as our model is predicated on the ability to market and sell rights and protect intellectual property.”
“It is because of this that clubs can invest in star players and managers, and world class stadiums – the very things fans enjoy about our competition.”
The raids follow a recent case brought by the Premier League in the UK that saw a supplier of IPTV devices which enabled mass piracy of football sent to prison for four years in a landmark first such case.
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News of the raids came hours after other law enforcement agencies began a crackdown against illegal usage of Kodi set-top boxes.
Five people were accused of selling modified versions of the popular on-demand program products were taken into custody during early morning raids.
The devices are thought to have been customised with unlicensed add-ons to allow users to watch premium channels such as movies and live football for free.
Kodi is a free software which is legal if used correctly but so-called "fully loaded Kodi boxes" break the rules on copyright.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) says removing these devices from sale is now a top priority.
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