You could be in serious trouble if you are a consumer of pirated content on Internetand it is that the police begins to operate, specifically in the United Kingdom, with home visits by those who are viewing pirated content on their devices, and at risk of prison sentences.

Consume pirated content It is illegal, and although up to now those responsible for disseminating this content and hacking devices have been imprisoned, the trend in the coming years is that the consumers themselves who are participating in the viewing will also begin to be brought to court. of this pirated content.

As reported by Torrent Freak, the anti-piracy group FACT is helping the UK police to send warning messages, and even to appear at the homes, of those people who are viewing pirated content, urging them to desist or leave. I could take them to court.

This stems from a recent crackdown on pirated IPTV that resulted in the identification of more than 1,000 subscribers who will be asked to immediately stop viewing this illegal activity.

Until now, dozens of illegal providers have received harsh sentences, both financial and with prison sentences, but until now, the viewers themselves had been left aside.

dissuasive visits

So as part of this latest operation, both British police and FACT are conducting home visits on people using these illegal streaming services. Most will receive in-person visits and others will receive a dissuasive email.

And it is that if you are subscribed to an illegal service IPTVyour data is not private and the police could easily locate you.

“Throughout January, FACT and the police will visit homes across the UK, sending notices to people to cease illegal content activities with immediate effect, informing these users of the associated risks, including criminal prosecution.”, they comment in the statement.

These home visits will have a deterrent effect, but it is unknown if these 1,000 users will ultimately be taken to court if they ignore the warning.

However, there are precedents, given that in 2021 two people were already sentenced to 16 months in prison for watching illegal broadcasts in the United Kingdom. However, it should be clarified that these people also illegally operated a series of devices that they sold to third parties.

For now, FACT clarifies that “we are not raising any prosecution during this initiative, just advising that a criminal offense may have been committed”.

In this way, people who are consuming illegal content on the Internet to save a few euros every month, could even end up being sentenced to prison terms in the coming years.