MAN JAILED FOR USING AND SELLING ILLICIT FIRESTICKS

Jonathan Edge, 29, from Liverpool, has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court following pleading guilty to three offences under the Fraud Act.

Jonathan had been loading illicit streaming services on to “Firesticks” in return for cash-in-hand payments. After ignoring multiple warnings to stop the activity, this led to a prosecution undertaken by the Premier League, and supported by a number of organisations, including FACT and Merseyside Police.

The sentence includes a separate concurrent sentence of two years and three months for accessing and viewing the content he was supplying.

Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT, added: “FACT are committed to investigating and acting against IP crime. Offenders should be aware that regardless of their level of operation or advertising methods, including word-of-mouth or platforms like Facebook, creating an illegal business for the purposes of selling stolen content to others will be investigated by the police, resulting in sentences such as the one given today. 

“We thank Merseyside Police for their collaboration in this case. Piracy is a crime and we will continue to work with law enforcement to protect our members’ content and ensure that offenders face the consequences of their criminal actions.” 

For more information and to view the full article, please Premier League