Officers of the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) have assisted in a comprehensive overseas action to tackle a worldwide illegal streaming organisation, with Detective Constable Jason Theobald leading the UK operation. The unit worked with Europol and Eurojust, which are government agencies of the European Union for law enforcement and criminal justice, respectively, as well as international police forces. The illicit network was estimated to have reached more than 22 million people worldwide, which provides a notion of the size of the operation.
Together, they carried out 112 search warrants across the UK, Europe and China last week, which resulted in the seizure of €1.6 million in cryptocurrency. Five of those search warrants were executed in the UK with the assistance of Europol and the Italian police, and as a result they closed an IPTV panel located at a property in the town of Harlow. Also, eleven individuals were arrested in Croatia and are currently in custody waiting for trial.
Given the reach of the streaming, criminal convictions are to be expected as they are becoming more common for large-scale IP infringements.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
