City of London Police have arrested a man in Manchester on suspicion of running a series of illegal sports streaming websites.
The arrest was carried out by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) with support from the Greater Manchester Police.
The 27-year-old man was taken to a local police station for questioning.
The man was arrested at his home in the North West by the City of London Police's specialist IP unit where detectives discovered an "industrial size streaming operation", including 12 computer servers streaming a wide range of sporting events from across the world, which have since been seized and taken away.
The suspect was believed to be operating streaming sites that allow unlawful access to subscription-only TV services, which is said to be costing the industry more than 10milllion.
"Today's operation is the unit's third arrest in relation to online streaming and sends out a strong message that we are homing in on those who knowingly commit or facilitate online copyright infringement," said DCI Danny Medlycott, the newly appointed head of PIPCU.
"Not only is there a significant loss to industry with this particular operation but it is also unfair that millions of people work hard to be able to afford to pay for their subscription-only TV services when others cheat the system."
Police have not named the site that has been taken out of action.
The unit was launched in September 2013 and is tasked with the job of protecting UK organisations from intellectual property theft. In July, the unit served pop-up adverts on websites that contain copyrighted material, warning customers the site is undergoing a criminal investigation.
It also seized 200 websites touting counterfeit goods in June in a joint operation with Europol and US law enforcement agencies.
-
What does modern security success look like for financial services?Sponsored As financial institutions grapple with evolving cyber threats, intensifying regulations, and the limitations of ageing IT infrastructure, the need for a resilient and forward-thinking security strategy has never been greater
-
Yes, legal AI. But what can you actually do with it? Let’s take a look…Sponsored Legal AI is a knowledge multiplier that can accelerate research, sharpen insights, and organize information, provided legal teams have confidence in its transparent and auditable application
-
Most CEOs steal IP from previous employersNews Emotionally-driven decisions put companies at risk, finds security report
-
User error: Businesses expose 1.5bn sensitive filesNews Exposed confidential information is roughly 4,000 times larger than the Panama Papers leak
-
Searching for pirate copies of Game of Thrones could lead to malware infectionNews When you pirate the Game of Thrones - you either win or get infected with malware
-
Four hackers accused of stealing military softwareNews The IP was worth more than $100m and included US Army software and games
-
Yahoo reveals fine threats of up to $250,000 by US governmentNews Secret court documents reveal court case dated back to 2007
-
Government pushes emergency law to allow data snoopingNews Government legislation will force telecoms companies to log customer info for government investigation
-
Angry Birds, Squeaky Dolphin, NoseySmurf: The NSA programs you never knew aboutIn-depth IT Pro takes you on a run down of some of the major NSA projects that may have passed you by over the last 12 months
-
Symantec raises the alarm over employee IP theftNews Half of employees took confidential corporate data with them into new jobs in the last 12 months, research by security firm Symantec has shown.
