A British court on Tuesday imposed sentences of up to 11 years in prison on five men for illegally broadcasting Premier League matches to tens of thousands of customers, an unprecedented fraudulent streaming case.
The band involved had created applications for mobile devices. These services, under the names Flawless, Shared VPS, Optimal or Cosmic retransmitted with a few seconds delay the signals of several broadcasters around the world, in addition to films and television programs.
A court in Chesterfield, central England, sentenced gang mastermind Mark Gould, 36, to 11 years in prison for fraud and money laundering, the Premier League said in a statement. a statement, describing the lawsuits as “the largest ever filed in the world against an illegal streaming network.” The other members received sentences of between three and five years in prison.
They sold subscriptions at 10 pounds per month (11.5 euros at the current rate) compared to around 80 pounds for the official broadcasters.
Between 2016 and 2021, they earned more than seven million pounds sterling from around 50,000 subscribers.
With rights sold for billions of euros around the world, the Premier League is at the head of a business with considerable financial stakes and has means to fight against piracy which it presents as among the most advanced in the world. world.
But the temptation to take advantage of illegal services is all the stronger as matches are not shown live in the UK on Saturday afternoons to encourage fans to come to the stadiums.
“This case is a new concrete example of the clear links between piracy and crime,” said Premier League legal director Kevin Plumb, quoted in a statement, saying that customers of these illegal services “in fact support organized crime. “.
“The Premier League’s significant contribution to the football pyramid is enabled by its ability to sell broadcast rights,” he said.
The dismantling of the service allowed investigators to seize a significant amount of computer equipment but also the contact details of customers, even if according to the BBC prosecution is unlikely.
