Already sentenced to more than seven years in prison, an English hacker guilty of illegally supplying illicit Premier League streams will have to repay nearly £1million or face a six-year sentence extension .
In some cases of hacking, the defendants once judged become real examples. In 2019, this was the case of three Britons guilty of selling illicit access to Premier League football matches. The mastermind of the case, a certain Steven King, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison, for a combined total of 17 years for the three protagonists. But that was apparently not enough. According TorrentFreakthree years after his conviction, King is now asked to repay 963,000 pounds within three months (more than one million euros), at the risk of remaining six more years behind bars.
£5m over a decade
According to representatives of the Premier League – which is just one of many broadcasters cheated in this story – the trio offered pirated subscriptions to more than 1,000 pubs, hostels and other establishments in England and Wales via its websites DreamBoxTV.co.uk and YourFootie.com. The deception would have lasted ten years, generating more than 5 million pounds sterling for the main interested parties.
Steven King, in addition to his prison sentence and his new fine, will also have to return his passport if he refuses to pay the sum requested. The said sum, if it is reimbursed, should then be donated by the English broadcaster to public bodies dedicated in particular to the fight against piracy. We can never repeat it enough, the risks incurred by pirates, especially those who provide illegal content, are increasingly important.