Police visit 1,000 homes of people watching online streams in piracy crackdown

Operation signals switch in focus to those not just sharing pirated streams but also watching them

Piracy has become a popular way to watch PPV sports events in the UK in recent years (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police in the UK claim to have identified more than 1,000 people accessing illegal online streams following a raid on a major piracy operation.

Officers with West Mercia Police plan to visit homes in order to serve notices to the accused individuals, ordering them to cease illegal streaming activity. It forms part of a broader crackdown on piracy in partnership with the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).

“This operation has involved months of collaborative hard work and the warning notices issued are an excellent example of adopting a multi-agency approach between FACT and the police,” said Jason Grove, who works for the Government Agency Intelligence Network (GAIN).