Some warnings go unanswered.
A cease and desist letter arrives.
However, the culprit still goes on, regardless.
And eventually, the full weight of the law arrives.
Not in the form of a fine, but in the form of a prison sentence.
That’s exactly what happened to Steven Mills.
A 58-year-old man from Shrewsbury who ran an illegal streaming service, generating over £1 million in five years.
And who is now heading to prison for two and a half years.
Man jailed for two and a half years after running £1m illegal Premier League streaming operation
According to the Mirror, Steven Mills was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to multiple fraud offences, following a joint investigation by the Premier League, West Mercia Police and anti-piracy organisation FACT.
The operation he ran was not small.
Trading under the names Pikabox and Eyepeeteevee, Mills sold Amazon Firesticks pre-loaded with an app allowing customers to stream a wide range of sports and entertainment content illegally.
More than 30,000 subscribers signed up.
Over five years, the operation generated more than £1 million.
The methods Mills used to conceal his activities were, as the sentencing judge noted, sophisticated.
He posted bundles of cash to suppliers rather than leaving a digital paper trail.
And he used Virtual Private Networks to disguise his activity.
Yet, when those customers needed help, Mills was there with a step-by-step guide to breaking the law more effectively.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge highlighted each of these elements individually.
A clear signal that the court took the sophistication of the operation seriously.
Mills was also convicted of a separate offence for watching the illegal content that he was supplying to others.
With the court recognising that his own personal use of the unauthorised service constituted a distinct crime.
He received a separate prison sentence for that offence, to run alongside the main term.
It’s a detail that carries its own message.
It isn’t only the people running these services who face criminal exposure.
In certain circumstances, watching the content is an offence too.
The sentencing comes against the backdrop of an escalating crackdown on illegal streaming.
Particularly following last weekend’s Champions League final.
However, the network of resellers Mills built while running Pikabox and Eyepeeteevee is currently under investigation.
Meaning this case is far from the end of the story.
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