The City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit was on the lookout for users and providers of streams of the Joshua v Ruiz Jr boxing pay-per-view event.
Ahead of the rematch, it warned viewers that "streaming or watching unauthorised content without the right permissions or subscriptions is no longer a grey area." It follows a 2018 court case against an illegal IPTV provider which confirmed they had put all their customers at risk of prosecution.
Those providing streams are also being targeted. Earlier this year, Mr Umar Shazad was ordered to pay legal costs of more than £12,000 for re-streaming Sky Sports content illegally on Facebook Live. This followed the case of Mr Yusuf Mohammed, who was ordered to pay legal costs and damages totalling more than £16,000 for similar offences.
Kieron Sharp, CEO of intellectual property protection organisation FACT, said:
If you are accessing the fight by avoiding the official provider, whether it’s a re-stream on social media, a piracy site, or using a device, box or stick connected to your TV, this is illegal. Watching live sport illegally is becoming harder and so boxing fans should be aware that if they were planning to watch the fight by illegal means they are breaking the law.
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