Police seized more than £1.2 million worth of equipment, after shutting down a large illicit streaming data centre. During the operation in Farnborough, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police (PIPCU) worked with Sky to dismantle the pirate infrastructure. The investigation began after PIPCU received a report of suspicious activity. The law enforcement operation was announced by PIPCU on June 1.
Two people were arrested in connection with the operation, and £700,000 was seized from one of those individuals. They have since been released under investigation.
The data centre hosted clusters of high-bandwidth servers that supplied illicit streams to many thousands of customers across the UK. Equipment estimated to be worth over one million was seized and will be forensically examined. The law enforcement operation disrupted thousands of illegal streams as well as illegal streaming services across the UK, demonstrating the scale and impact of coordinated enforcement can deliver.
Why it matters
“The size of this operation shows how widespread illegal streaming has become in the UK and our commitment to bringing the criminals behind it to justice, said Detective Sergeant Ben Hobbs, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police. “If you plan to stream, ensure you only use official and not pirated sources to protect yourself from the risks.”
By using an illegal streaming network, viewers can be exploited by criminals who can access their online data through compromised network channels and use this to access banking information and commit identity fraud. Having one of these illegal services can put your personal information and privacy at risk.
Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky added, “Continued partnership between police and industry is essential to distrupt these operations, protect our content, and keep consumers safe from the harmful risks it poses.”
Further reading
Police seize more than £1.2 million worth of equipment after shutting down a large illicit streaming data centre. Press release. June 1, 2026. Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) for the City of London Police
