Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

Live scenes from the Sky anti-piracy task group……

Shows the power of the GAA is anything.

People have dodgy boxes for Sky Sports / TNT.

Unfortunately, GAA+ comes with these packages and I know for a fact that it is hitting the GAA hard. Watch politicians / Gardai start doing something now.

Says a lot that Jess Kelly says without any detail or evidence that “I feel it’s like a house of cards…”

I would say it’s actually the very opposite. I think Skys outdated business model is the house of cards here.

Yep, thats the real issue. Sky have priced themselves out of the market, with a pretty restrictive service. There arent many people willing to pay over 100Eu for a TV service anymore. I know one of my mates is paying 125 or so a month which to me is mental but whatever works, There arent too many willing to pay that anymore.

Some rural pubs I know using IPTV now as well, but so even more loss for Sky.

None of these seller groups are stupid enough to work on whatsapp with their own details visible. They all have made up names, are using telegram and have gone away form paypal etc as they know that interpol and european police are trying to take them down. Know a seller who had big money in revolut from proceeds and his paypal and revolut got frozen for " anti money laundering" reasons and had trouble getting funds back as they questioning whether its form proceeds of crime. Its going to be a long game of cat and mouse between sellers and authorities which will run for another while yet.

Exactly that. Once it's considered a group, authorities assume that anyone asking for support is also involved, simply based on the fact that they are part of the"support" chat, channel or forum. The German Staatsanwaltschaft (public prosecutor's office) has been following this strategy for several years now, particularly in forums and messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram, going as far as hitting the payment method to get clients details (forcing PayPal or Banks to give them details). Interestingly, they don't typically charge individuals for purchasing an illegal subscription (like IPTV), but they do go after people for other offenses, usually in the form of:

• Accessing illegal content via a computer or (computer) device (which is considered a computer crime)
• In some cases: Aiding or facilitating money laundering, if they gather enough circumstantial evidence.

I know of a few guys in Germany who were caught up in this, thinking they were safe using Irish bought accounts, only to find the source was in Germany/ Holland/ Spain. The process usually starts with a letter inviting you to the police station for a voluntary interview. (You’re not legally obliged to attend or speak at this point.) However, after that, the DPP might summon you, and this you must attend.

If you go in alone, they’ll often get information from you — whether intentionally or not. If you take a solicitor, the approach changes. The solicitor will first ask to see what evidence the prosecution has. Based on that, you'll either be advised to stay silent (they aint got jack **** except your name on a list) or cooperate. If you’re advised to talk and it turns out you were only a consumer (i.e., not involved in distribution or selling), the fines can range from €350 to €1500, depending on what evidence they’ve collected.

The Gardai are using them too.

But Sky don't restrict the service, the rights owners do.

It's not Sky or TNTs fault that you can't see every game or can't see 3pm games.

The EPL control that.

As for pricing themselves out of the market, they have to carry the costs of broadcasting, that's not cheap.

Imagine thinking infiltrating WhatsApp or locking down Firesticks is the solution here.

I didn't realise that these people are actually stupider than I gave them credit for.

Sky's business model is defunct and nobody is willing to pay stupid money any more. The ship has sailed, sorry lads you either need to go back to dishes and move entirely away from IPTV or accept there is always going to be a work around.

For me, this is a "Fill a page" story because its summer.

Why? Does it come up here a lot?

Sky and all the other broadcasters need to adjust their business model. Look back at how the music industry basically stopped people using napster, limewire etc. They had to offer a product that could compete at a fair price, and Spotify came along. It changed the music industry forever!

TBH, if I could pay €10 per month for all PL, CL, EL that I watch to Sky to watch legally I would. Now TV discount codes ain't the answer. I would sign up and just forget about it. I was a Sky Sports customer about 8 years ago before swapping to IPTV as the price I'd to pay on top of basic sky with multiroom was over €100 a month once contact ran out, and trying to cancel and change "name" every 12 months was a pain. IPTV was the stress free answer then.

I know people will say the cost to broadcast is high, but how can other countries offer value for sports TV, but we can't in UK or Ireland.

People would be around it in a minute. In the era of Smart TV's, casting browsers, etc these guys would have an alternative ready in no time.

Even talk of locking down PayPal, etc is rubbish because people will find a way.

The long and the short of the story is this model is defunct and people now want on-demand TV without restriction and all the restrictions do is make people find plan B.

While I accept your pont, it is sky people are being charged by and they manage their own access systems so yes, they do restrict the service .

Average punter doesn't care about behind the scenes…nor should they really. It's either value for money or its not...and clearly a lot of people don't feel it's good value.