AN URGENT warning has gone out to millions of Brits after the world’s largest illegal sports streaming platform was closed.
Streaming content illegally breaks a major UK law and could have severe consequences.
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Streameast was one of the most popular platforms for illegally streaming sports.
The site received a staggering 1.6 billion visits over the last year, as it offered users the opportunity to watch their favourite games without paying for sports channel subscriptions.
However, the site has finally been shut down after a daring investigation.
Two men were arrested in connection with running the illegal site, as authorities carried out a rave which ended in the seizure of cash, credit cards and several electronic devices.
Now, millions of Brits have been told to stop watching illegally streamed content since they could be in breach of the Fraud Act 2006.
Section 11 of the act covers “obtaining services dishonestly”, with a clause stating that knowing you need to pay for something and still not paying is a crime.
Breaking the Fraud Act 2006 could see you slapped with a hefty fine.
Even worse, some criminals who breach the copyright law could even be put behind bars for 12 months.
Kieron Sharp, chairman of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), has said that criminal gangs running illegal streaming services often keep a database of users.
This means that the authorities could trace users who have used the service, once the gangs have been arrested.
He says that FACT could contact the users they find on that list, warning them to stop before they take further legal action.
Kieron added: “It would be a discussion for everybody involved in the business to see if that is an area that we would want to go down.
“It could happen, it really could.
“I would never say to any of the consumers through the messaging that we do that they are not going to get prosecuted because that just isn’t correct.”
The news comes after cops in Argentina shut down a major illegal streaming operation which was broadcasting LaLiga games.
Authorities have now claimed that it’s the “most significant strike against audiovisual fraud in Latin American history”.
A series of raids were carried out at four “sophisticated” office buildings around Buenos Aires.
Local cops had become suspicious of the sites in the run-up to the raid and began suspecting them of being a hub for organised criminals.
After the raid, Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, said: “This operation marks a before and after in the fight against digital piracy in Latin America.
“The scale of this network demonstrates that audiovisual fraud is a transnational organized crime issue.
“From LaLiga, we will continue working alongside authorities, ALIANZA, and our partners to protect the industry, the clubs, and, above all, the fans.”
Warning over ‘jailbroken’ Fire Sticks
Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are ‘jailbroken’ Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it.
The software most commonly used is called Kodi.
It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK.
But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free.
It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as “fully-loaded” – a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels.
“These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,” the government said at the time.
“They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.”
