A 68-year-old man in the U.K. has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for operating an illegal IPTV service that generated nearly £1 million in revenue over a three-year period.
Milan Ibrahim was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison following an investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) of the City of London Police. Investigators described his operation as a sophisticated illegal streaming business serving customers in the U.K. and overseas.
According to police, Ibrahim sold unauthorized access to broadcasts owned by major rights holders, including the BBC, ITV, Sky, the Premier League and the Motion Picture Association.
The investigation found that the operation relied on 80 servers located at premises in Chorley. Over three years, the service generated £980,812, equivalent to roughly $1.3 million.
Police seized all 80 servers during enforcement action and shut them down, significantly disrupting the service and preventing users from continuing to access the illegal streams through the seized infrastructure.
The seized servers could also provide investigators with information about people who used the service. Authorities warned that customers could potentially face financial penalties or other consequences for knowingly funding or participating in copyright infringement.
Ibrahim is also expected to face proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which could allow authorities to pursue the money and assets generated through the illegal operation.
Stefan Sergot, Director of Legal Enforcement at the Premier League, described the operation as significant and said the IPTV service was among the UK’s most prominent and long-running suppliers of pirate streaming services.
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Public U.K. government records also show that Ibrahim previously served as a director of CTU Systems, a company that marketed IPTV software before being dissolved. However, authorities have not established a connection between CTU Systems and the illegal IPTV operation involved in this case.
