This month we saw John Trevor Dodds and Jason Graham sentenced to four and a half years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud at Newcastle Crown Court. The pair had pocketed at least £1.5m by selling hundreds of illegal, Kodi-type devices and other equipment that allowed pub landlords to view Premier League football via unauthorised access to Sky, BT Sport and illegal foreign channels.
Among their ‘customers’ were many pubs in the north-east of England, some of which had been conned into believing that they were making use of a legal loophole when they were actually engaging in illegal activity. Some of these pubs were consequently prosecuted, which could affect their ability to hold a personal licence in the future.
'Not worth the risk'
Premier League director of legal services Kevin Plumb said: “This is a hugely significant judgment because it provides further evidence that selling these devices is illegal and can result in a prison sentence. We hope this verdict gets the message out there that selling or using these devices is simply not worth the risk.”
FACT Kieron Sharp CEO said: “This result is an excellent example of how serious an issue illegal streaming is. This is no longer a grey area – selling devices like this or using one to watch content you normally would pay for is breaking the law.
This sentencing should send out a very clear and strong message to anyone involved in the sale of these devices that it is very much illegal and that they risk spending time behind bars.”
Piracy taken seriously
At Sky, we are very pleased with this verdict – it shows that piracy is being taken seriously and will not be tolerated.
The most important aspect for us is that our hard-working customers, who pay for the correct commercial agreements from Sky, are being protected and not short-changed.
We have taken steps to initiate in excess of 7,000 civil actions across the UK and Republic of Ireland. We will continue to carry out hundreds of random and targeted checks a week throughout the season – showing that we mean business.
- If you suspect someone is showing Sky Sports illegally, you can report them anonymously using www.pubpiracy.com.