Dad jailed after selling ‘dodgy’ Fire Sticks to stream Premier League football

A man has been jailed after flogging ‘dodgy’ Amazon Fire Sticks to let ‘the poor’ watch pirate streams of Premier League football.

Father-of-two Jonathan Edge, 29, from Liverpool, loaded illegal services onto the media streaming devices in return for cash-in-hand payments at his home.

Ignoring several warnings that his actions were against the law, he advertised his illicit business on Facebook and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Edge, who used a tinkered Fire Stick himself to watch TV, was described by his lawyer as acting as a ‘Robin Hood’ figure who enabled people who can’t afford Sky subscriptions to access games.

‘Whether or not he made a significant profit is an issue which is raised. The point should be made on his behalf that the people who would buy his products would not be people who are likely to have the money to buy a Sky subscription,’ Julian Nutter, defending, told Liverpool Crown Court. 

‘They have limited income. The people he would be been dealing with in the Merseyside area would hardly be the same as toffs in London who would have money coming in from the city. 

‘He was providing a service to people who would probably not be able to afford it otherwise. There’s an element of a Robin Hood to all that.’ 

The court, however, felt otherwise. Edge was yesterday sentenced to three years and four months in prison, which included a separate concurrent sentence of two years and three months for accessing and viewing the content he was supplying.

Premier League General Counsel, Kevin Plumb, said: ‘The significant sentence handed down to the individual involved once again serves to highlight the severity of his actions and we thank Merseyside Police for their support throughout the case. 

‘We will continue to pursue legal action against those supplying unauthorised access to Premier League football, regardless of the scale or mode of operation. Ignoring warnings to stop only served to make the consequences worse for the individual. ’

The Premier League had been increasingly clamping down on dodgy Fire Sticks, also called ‘jailbroken’, ‘cracked’ or ‘modded’ sticks.

Crooked vendors install official apps or third-party software on the gadgets so users can watch streaming services and costly subscriptions like Sky Sports for free.

Using these devices, which include USB sticks and other boxes plugged into your TV, is against the Fraud Act. ‘Obtaining services dishonestly’, as the law says, can land someone with up to five years in prison.

Experts also warn that people using illegal streaming services are having their data stored with providers selling it for profit.

The Premier League’s prosecution of Edge was also backed by intellectual property protection agency FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft).

Keiron Sharp, CEO of FACT, added: ‘Offenders should be aware that regardless of their level of operation or advertising methods, including word-of-mouth or platforms like Facebook, creating an illegal business for the purposes of selling stolen content to others will be investigated by the police, resulting in sentences such as the one given today. ’

Detective Sergeant Steve Frame from Merseyside Police said: ‘Many people see no harm in illegally streaming TV services but they are wrong, and this outcome should serve as a further warning how seriously such copyright theft continues to be taken.’

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