Warning issued to people over illegal use of Amazon Fire Sticks for streaming Premier League games
A warning has been issued to people using Amazon Fire Sticks illegally as police try and crack down on unlawful streaming.
The devices have a number of different models and typically cost between £35 and £70.
However in recent times it's been increasingly popular for the sticks to have been loaded with content from streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
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In addition, plenty of people have been watching Premier League games on the jailbroken sticks and it's become a common solution to the high costs of having Sky Sports and TNT Sports.
While officials' priority is to go after those providing the modified devices, using the sticks to stream live sports is a breach of copyright law and Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT UK) are clamping down.
The body say they are taking a strong stance by issuing cease and desist letters and having officers visiting those who they believe are consuming content by illegal means.
FACT also say that they have experienced a "significant" rise in reports from neighbours and friends on those with hacked Fire Sticks in the last year.
A spokesperson for FACT UK said: "FACT constantly monitors the digital landscape to combat illegal streaming activities in the UK and Ireland. We utilise a range of methods to identify individuals engaged in unauthorised businesses that offer access to illegal streams.
"One of these methods is through our partnership with Crimestoppers to make it as easy as possible to report illegal streaming, and over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of reports directly linked to Fire Sticks and illegal streaming.
"These reports are then investigated by our Intelligence Unit, and followed up with a rolling programme of action which includes issuing 'Cease and Desist' letters and conducting nationwide 'Knock and Talks'.
"These home visits, undertaken in conjunction with law enforcement, serve to inform individuals about their activities and the immediate need to cease and desist or face further action or prosecution.
"We also work in close collaboration with law enforcement to gather further evidence to actively pursue legal actions against these criminal entities."
In May, five men involved in the selling of IPTV sticks were jailed for a total of 30 years.
Mark Gould, 36, Steven Gordon, 46, Peter Jolley, 41, Christopher Felvus, 36, William Brown, 33, and Zak Smith, 30 are all said to have generated around £7 million from 50,000 customers having provided services for £10 a month under three different organisations.
Also earlier this year, Sky Sky won a High Court order so that internet service providers are forced to block pirates from streaming illegally.
The Premier League also has the ability to "Super Block" and 600,000 illegal live streams are reported to have been removed last term.
Topics: Premier League
Josh Lawless