![\"iptv-crime-scene-s\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/iptv-crime-scene-s.png\")
While other law enforcement agencies and rightsholders can\u2019t be ruled out, those involved in pirate IPTV in the UK should be aware of four names in particular.<\/p>\nWhile other law enforcement agencies and rightsholders can\u2019t be ruled out, those involved in pirate IPTV in the UK should be aware of four names in particular.<\/p>\n
A specialist unit funded in part by the private sector, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police often investigates piracy of Sky TV broadcasts. <\/p>\n
As the ultimate rightsholders of the country\u2019s most popular football broadcasts available via Sky, the Premier League is also known for its anti-piracy operations. Likewise, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, a rights holder-funded anti-piracy group which can appear alongside any of the above at any time.<\/p>\n
In an announcement this morning, PIPCU revealed that following an investigation into a streaming service offering Sky content illegally, last Thursday morning (July 3, 2025) PIPCU detectives executed search warrants at residential addresses near to Birmingham and a commercial address in Gloucestershire.<\/p>\n
At one of the residential addresses in Oldbury, PIPCU says they arrested a 30-year-old man, who they believe is the operator of a thus-far unnamed IPTV service. A 32-year-old woman was also arrested at one of the addresses on suspicion of copyright offenses and receiving criminal property. <\/p>\n
PIPCU\u2019s press release doesn\u2019t specifically identify the pair as a couple, nor reveal whether they were arrested at the same or different addresses. However, PIPCU says that its investigation suggests that the pair derived \u201csignificant profits\u201d from the service.<\/p>\n
The commercial address where PIPCU executed a warrant last Thursday is reportedly a datacenter located around 50 miles south of Oldbury in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. PIPCU hasn\u2019t revealed its name or precise location but did post a couple of photographs taken inside to its account on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Presumably extracted from the rack of Supermicro servers on the right, PIPCU says that they believe the seizure of seven of those servers last Thursday \u201ccaused major disruption\u201d to a number of pirate services, none of which are named.<\/p>\n \u201cThis activity should serve as a reminder that PIPCU will pursue criminals who seek to profit from illegal streaming and disrupt their operations,\u201d says Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt of PIPCU.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a crime that diverts funds away from the creative and entertainment industries, money that supports thousands of technical and support staff. At the same time, it exposes end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.\u201d<\/p>\n Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky, thanks PIPCU for its work protecting Sky and members of the public.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are extremely grateful to the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for taking this action against a significant pirate operation. We will continue to work alongside the police and industry partners to tackle piracy and disrupt the criminal networks behind it,\u201d Hibbert said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis action helps to keep consumers safe from the serious risks that piracy can pose to devices and personal property.\u201d<\/p>\n As part of a previous operation to disrupt the supply of pirate IPTV subscriptions in the UK, last October PIPCU raided<\/a> a residential address and four business addresses in the West Midlands, including a datacenter. <\/p>\n PIPCU withheld the name of a datacenter but using the supplied photographs, TorrentFreak was able to identify the location, the name of the company behind it, and the nature of various pieces of hardware in the images. <\/p>\n A closer inspection of the latest images reveals that PIPCU has blurred out potentially useful information, but there\u2019s circumstantial evidence to suggest that the datacenter targeted last week has links to the datacenter raided last October in Wolverhampton. <\/p>\n Nothing further has been heard about those arrested last year but since cases often take years to reach court, that\u2019s not unexpected.<\/p>\n Finally, while Sky and PIPCU highlight risks reported by Sky\u2019s BeStreamWise anti-piracy campaign (in which PIPCU also plays a leading role), no specific allegations of fraud or identity theft were mentioned in connection with the service or services affected by last week\u2019s operation. <\/p>\n In the meantime, however, one or more criminal operations not dissimilar to those described here<\/a> operate perpetually via at least one datacenter in the UK, seemingly completely unhindered.<\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n![\"pipcu-chelt-dc\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/pipcu-chelt-dc.png\")
<\/center><\/p>\nSky Thanks PIPCU<\/h2>\n
Possible Links to Previous Raid<\/h2>\n