A man who sold illegal Amazon Fire Sticks must pay £67,000 after bypassing copyright laws for streaming services.
The men allowed people to watch TV without paying by bypassing subscriptions to streaming services. This broke copyright laws. Court-Holmes lived in Mexborough and Edwards lived in Camborne.
A court sentenced them last September. Edwards admitted to fraud, and Court-Holmes admitted to possessing criminal property. The Truro Crown Court handled the case.
Cornwall Council brought the case, working with the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). FACT contacted the council in June 2022 after buying an illegal device from a Facebook group. The device let people stream video and audio online, violating copyright protected by FACT for companies like BT and Sky.
Edwards boasted about his success in chats. He offered an “ultimate TV package” including “all the sports you could imagine,” an illegal offering.
Edwards received an eight-month suspended sentence, while Court-Holmes received a nine-month suspended sentence. Both must complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
Edwards had £58,000 in frozen assets. The court ordered him to pay £54,000 and £13,000 in court costs. He has three months to fulfill these obligations.