The UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) has arrested a man on suspicion of selling an illegal streaming service.
Shared by the City of London Police on October 16, the force executed a search warrant at a residential address in Wolverhampton, and four further business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry.
A server that was used to host the illegal streaming service was seized and the service has since been shut down.
The data center that was hosting the server was not named.
According to DataCenterMap, Coventry has two data centers: Continuity House and SMS Teleport Data Center.
UK Servers, which operates the Continuity House data center in Coventry, denied that it was their facility, and told DCD: "The racks that are photographed are not at our Continuity House site in Coventry, nor are these photographs from any of our other premises. I can also confirm that no equipment has been seized from our facilities as part of this investigation."
DCD has also contacted SMS Teleport Data Center.
DataCenterMap does not list any Wolverhampton colocation facilities, but provider VeloxServ Communication lists a Wolverhampton facility on datacenterplatform. DCD has contacted VeloxServ regarding the raid.
A 38-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of copyright and money laundering offenses and is suspected of having sold illegal streaming packages in bulk.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, PIPCU at City of London Police, said: “Illegal streaming is a huge issue for the entertainment and creative industries and, while it may seem like a low-risk, high-reward crime, the proceeds are used to fund other serious forms of criminal activity. At the same time, it can expose end users to the risks of data theft, fraud, and malware.
“The message of this operation is clear: if you sell illegal streaming services, you will be caught and held to account for your actions."
The streaming devices provided illegal access to Sky channels.
Matt Hibbert, group director of anti-piracy at Sky, said: “When people illegally stream they provide their personal information to criminals, and the risks that result are very real.
“We are grateful to the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for leading this action. We’ll continue to do everything we can to protect our content from theft, and to help keep consumers safe.”
The man arrested has been released under investigation.
An analysis by TorrentFreak notes that the hardware depicted in the image isn't a typical server, but is used for distribution. TF identifies the server as being manufactured by Triax and as a 'multiswitch' which is used in settings where one satellite signal to a receiver is insufficient. The box can instead send signals to a number of devices.
Last year, Dutch police took down a similar pirate IPTV operation in Den Helder, the Netherlands.
