It’s the most wonderful time of year to make sure you’re following the rules
Millions of football fans looking to watch the Premier League fixtures this Boxing Day have been given a warning so as to make sure they don’t land themselves with a whopping £1,000 fine.
Like many sporting competitions, the Premier League takes no time off when it comes to the festive period, with all 20 clubs back in action across 26 and 27 December.
And with Boxing Day’s fixtures spaced out right across the day – from a 12.30pm early kick off between Manchester City, Everton 3pm’s Newcastle United vs Aston Villa, a 5.30pm start for Wolves vs Manchester United, and finally an 8pm match for Liverpool and Leicester City – those wanting to sit down and do nothing after a Christmas Day blow out will be given the chance to.
Friday, 27 December will then see Brighton and Brentford kick off at 7.30pm while Arsenal are at home to Ipswich Town at 8.15pm, before clubs get back into it 29 and 30 December for even more festive football in a rather gruelling fixture pile up.
Woman extraordinarily won Pointless after boyfriend told her ‘just say Henrik Larsson’ to any football question
Credit: BBC
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How to watch Boxing Day Premier League fixtures
The Premier League fixtures on 26 and 27 December are being broadcast exclusively in the United Kingdom on Amazon Prime Video, which did the same for games earlier in December.
Those with a full Amazon Prime subscription or just a Prime Video subscription can watch as part of their monthly fees; just like you could for the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing match if you had a Netflix subscription.
With services such as these, the live events they offer are part of the overall price you pay, which is a nice Brucie Bonus for subscribing Brits everywhere.
Man Utd will be playing on Boxing Day (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images)
TV Licence and Amazon Prime Video
Like with Netflix, and the BBC iPlayer, you need a TV Licence to watch any of its live events despite it not being a more traditional TV service.
That’s according to TV Licensing; the body which we pay our TV Licences to in the UK, funding the BBC and its services.
Issuing a statement to LADbible earlier in 2024, the BBC said: “A TV Licence is needed to watch live content on streaming services, watch or record a TV programme on any channel and when using BBC iPlayer.
“Further information is available on the TV Licensing website or via the customer services team, who can help with any queries.”
Live events on YouTube also require a TV Licence under the regulations set out by TV Licensing.
Salah will be hoping to keep up Liverpool’s title charge (Marc Atkins / Getty Images)
£1,000 warning explained
A TV Licence is currently £169.50 for a full year, although you can pay for this in quarterly instalments via direct debt.
For those caught watching live television or broadcasts in the UK without a TV Licence, there is a maximum of a £1,000 fine and a day in court for not abiding by the rules.
The TV Licensing website explains: “You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally. The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay.”
As for the future of being prosecuted for not having a TV Licence, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, and Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, are said to be agreement when it comes to decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee.
“The administrative burden of policing non-payment of the licence fee should not be falling on the taxpayer. It should be carved out. It’s not worth the hassle it creates,” a senior government source told The Times earlier this year. We will wait and see.Featured Image Credit: Marc Atkins / Getty Images / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
Topics: Premier League, Football, Money, Crime, IPTV, TV, Technology, Sport, BBC
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 13:56 12 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 11:51 2 Dec 2024 GMT
Premier League viewers given £1,000 fine warning for streaming this week’s matches on Amazon Prime Video
The Premier League is back with mid-week games – and a £1,000 warning to those tuning in
Another weekend ram-packed with Premier League action; the Barclays is back again in just one day’s time – and with it, a warning of a £1,000 fine to anyone who decides to tune in.
Following a round of fixtures that saw Liverpool go nine points clear at the top after a routine win against a rather limp-looking Manchester City, as well as Manchester United scoring four goals in an Old Trafford league debut for new boss Ruben Amorim, there is very little rest for the lads across all 20 teams, with another round of games set to kick off on Tuesday night (3 December).
Games will feature across Tuesday to Thursday, with the highlight being Arsenal vs Man Utd on the Wednesday evening. But for those who tune in to the big match, or any of the other nine fixtures, you could find yourself at risk of a £1,000 fine for following your team or casually watching.
Woman extraordinarily won Pointless after boyfriend told her ‘just say Henrik Larsson’ to any football question
Credit: BBC
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£1,000 Premier League fine explained
The mid-week fixtures are all being shown live on Amazon Prime Video, with the same also being the case when the teams play on Boxing Day (26 December).
If you have a Prime subscription, you can tune in at no extra cost as part of your package with Amazon – just like you could for the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing match if you had a Netflix subscription at the time of the fight.
Watching content on Netflix or Prime Video doesn’t require any other subs on top of what you pay each company. That is, until live events are involved.
Salah scored in Liverpool’s comfortable win over Man City (Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
TV Licence, Premier League, and Amazon Prime Video
To watch any live event as it is broadcast in the United Kingdom, you need to be paying for a TV Licence, whether you like it or not.
This is for live television as well as live events as they are streamed over the internet.
The BBC, which is funded by the TV Licence, told LADbible that a TV Licence is needed for live events on streaming services such as Prime Video, YouTube, and Netflix.
Issuing a statement earlier this year, the BBC said: “A TV Licence is needed to watch live content on streaming services, watch or record a TV programme on any channel and when using BBC iPlayer. Further information is available on the TV Licensing website or via the customer services team, who can help with any queries.”
Live Premier League on the Prime Video app this week
A £1,000 risk
If you go ahead and watch the Premier League fixtures on Prime Video that are being broadcast from 3 to 5 December, you’re putting yourself at risk of a £1,000.
This is the most you can be fined for watching live content without paying for a TV Licence, which is £169.50 a year. The maximum fine is £2,000 in Guernsey.
“You could be prosecuted if we find that you have been watching, recording or downloading programmes illegally. The maximum penalty is a £1,000 fine plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay,” TV Licensing says.
The TV Licence is paid by millions every year (Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)
“We have a database of approximately 31 million licensed and unlicensed addresses. This tells us if your address has a TV Licence.
All our visiting officers have access to this database. This means they can check if you have a licence or not. If you tell us that you do not need a TV Licence ,our officers may still visit you to confirm this.”
The service also uses ‘detector vans’ which it sends around the country to ‘detect the use of TV receiving equipment at specifically targeted addresses within minutes’.Featured Image Credit: Ash Donelon / Manchester United via Getty Images / Jaque Silva / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Amazon, Amazon Prime, BBC, Crime, Football, Premier League, Sport, TV, IPTV
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 14:15 12 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 13:02 12 Dec 2024 GMT
‘Historic’ moment as ‘man is jailed’ for subscribing to illegal IPTV service
A landmark court ruling has taken place
An ‘historic judgement’ has been passed that looks ominous for people who watch content via illegal IPTV platforms, with a person who subscribed to one such service given a five month sentence.
Watching premium content via illegal means is as widespread as it has ever been, with millions of people watching content from subscription platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, and Sky Sports without paying for them.
And if they do pay, it is to discounted subscription services with pirated content before offering it out for vastly different costs to the full price you would pay to the services holding the copyright to said content.
Lawyer explains TV licence laws
Credit: TikTok/@tiktokstreetlawyer
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But the authorities are not sitting back and letting people get away with this. In fact, the approach is aggressive, if anything, with police this week visiting the homes of UK residents using ‘dodgy fire sticks’ to watch content illegally.
And while a lot of attention has naturally been on people who are behind hosting the content illegally and putting together illicit IPTV operations, the magnifying glass is closing in on those who use the services.
So much so that one man has reportedly been sentenced to five whole months for subscribing to such an IPTV service.
People use apps side-loaded on to their media devices to watch IPTV (Getty Stock Images)
What’s happened?
The incident in question here has occurred over in Greece, where authorities are really turning the screw on pirating.
With the prosecution of this man widely reportedly across the country, it has seen it described as a ‘landmark and historic’ decision, reports TorrentFreak.
According to local press, the prosecution came after the largest ‘European raid’ across 10 countries; Italy, Germany, France, the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia).
The move was in fact part of the take down of a £2.5 billion IPTV operation used by more than 22 million households in the UK alone.
As a result of this, one subscriber to the platform in Greece was hauled before the courts in what has been described as a ‘significant shift’ when it comes to those who pay for the illegal content.
Sentenced (Getty Stock Images)
The case explained
Local press reports that the man contested the charge put his way, pleading not guilty.
His defence? He didn’t know it was illegal to subscribe to the IPTV service and didn’t understand where his subscription fees had been going.
“The judges concluded that the consequences of piracy cannot be considered ‘minor,’ given the enormous damage it causes on multiple levels,” a report from Skair.gr reads.
“According to the evidence presented at the trial, pay-TV piracy causes serious economic and social consequences, such as revenue losses for the Greek State from the non-collection of VAT and tax revenues and the parallel circulation of ‘black money’.
“It causes damage to Greek society from the loss of jobs and the non-payment of remuneration to creators. And it increases crime as pirate organisations have a clear criminal organisation structure with a multitude of parallel criminal crimes.
“And finally, piracy causes financial disaster for providers from revenue losses and degradation of the quality of services.”
IPTV is growing in popularity (Getty Stock Images)
Has he been sent to jail?
According to a TorrentFreak source who is an expert on the Greek legal system, crimes with a sentence of five months would usually be suspended. This is where you don’t actually go to prison unless you reoffend in a particular time frame.
Other key details are missing in the Greek reports, such as the defendants name and age, as well as background information about the case.
At the same time, other reports from local sources say Greece will soon be introducing €600 fines if you are caught watching illegal IPTV services.
Whatever the truth, the crackdown is very real, whether new rules or propaganda.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Crime, Film, Sport, TV, Technology, World News, IPTV
Tom Earnshaw
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Published 17:12 19 Dec 2024 GMT
Tech experts issue major IPTV warning to those illegally streaming Fury vs Usyk fight
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are returning to the ring in Saudi Arabia
Tech experts have issued a warning to those wanting to watch the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rematch via IPTV on so-called ‘dodgy’ firesticks.
The two heavyweight boxers will get back in the ring on Saturday night (21 December) for another showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It is the anticipated rematch between the Brit and Ukrainian after the two first faced off in May 2024, with Usyk handing the Gypsy King the first loss of his illustrious career.
Fury, aged 36, is now seeking revenge after losing the undisputed heavyweight championship bout to 37-year-old Usyk. And he’s pulling out all the stops, including not speaking to wife Paris for three months leading up to the fight.
With ring walks at 10pm GMT, the fight will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Box Office and DAZN at a cost of £24.95. But, as with pretty much every major sporting event that’s not free to air, there’s a growing population that don’t want to pay.
Bizarre Fury Vs Usyk Trailer
Credit: Riyadh Season
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Enter the world of internet protocol television (IPTV), where ‘dodgy’ firesticks and other illicit apps have taken over the streaming world.
During the first fight between Fury and Usyk, people searching Google for a way to watch the fight for free spiked as last minute interest in the event boomed.
But watching the fight via an illegal stream, where organised crime gangs offer links either for free or at massively discounted prices, comes with a risk, so say the experts.
Fury avoided a knock out in the first fight but still lost to Usyk (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Kieron Sharp is CEO of FACT and aims to highlight the personal risks of illegal streaming.
Ahead of the fight, BeStreamWise said that viewers who turn to these streams may unknowingly put their personal data, such as banking information, in to the hands of fraudsters.
Research on this reveals that one in three (32 percent) individuals in the UK who stream illegally have been victims of fraud, scams, or identity theft as a result.
“Choosing to bypass official channels to watch the highly anticipated Fury vs. Usyk fight this Saturday isn’t just risky, it’s illegal and can expose you to serious dangers,” Sharp said.
Usyk is hoping to remain unbeaten (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“Illegal streaming puts consumers at risk of malware, financial theft, and the compromise of personal data, such as emails, photos, and browsing history. During events of high viewership, fraudsters are targeting unsuspecting viewers.”
Ahead of the first fight between Usyk and Fury, LADbible spoke to Calum Baird, a British detective in specialist technical law enforcement, who recently spent three years investigating complex cybercrime for Police Scotland, including IPTV thefts at the distribution level.
He said: “Free online streamers are not providing the service out of charity, but for their own gain.
“This could potentially be in the form of advertisements, many of which may be age inappropriate – consider sexually explicit advertisements which may be inappropriate for young viewers – as they are unregulated.”
Who will win? (Getty Images / Richard Pelham)
Baird added: “Streaming platforms may ask for your personal data to register, possibly even requiring a fee to access the platform/service.
“Inputting your personal details – even without payment details – leaves you open to the risk of financial or identity fraud, or even making you the target of further attempts – spear-phishing emails and calls with pretexting.
“Remember technology is traceable and illegal streamers will have a link back to you, whether it’s through your input personal details or the internet protocol address you accessed the service through.”
How to watch Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in the UK
This article contains affiliate links and LADbible Group will make a commission on anything purchased.
To watch Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk go head to head, there are three options:
1.) You can watch the rematch on DAZN with no subscription required. All you need to do is buy the PPV for £24.99 and you will automatically get a seven-day free trial which you can later cancel to stop the subscription from rolling over. You’ll be able to stream the match on a range of devices including PlayStation, Chromecast, and Smart TV. If you do decide to roll over your free trial, you’ll move onto a monthly plan costing £24.99 per month and get access to over 150 fights every year, with the option to cancel with 30 days’ notice.
Fury v Usyk is set to be unmissable… but don’t stream it illegally (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)
2.) You can also tune in live on Sky Sports Box Office (Sky channel 491). The event is priced at £24.95 for Sky customers in the UK and €27.95 if you’re based in the Republic of Ireland. Sadly Sky does not offer free trials, but Sky subscribers can book the match here and if you’re new to Sky, you can sign up here.
3.) Finally, you can watch the fight on TNT Sports with a Prime Video subscription (free for the first month then £8.99/ month), provided you have discovery+ (from £3.99/ month) as part of your subscription. If you don’t fancy shelling out, you can simply cancel your subscription after the first month.Featured Image Credit: Richard Pelham / Getty Images
Topics: IPTV, Crime, Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Boxing, TV, Sport, Technology
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 13:58 12 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 09:30 12 Sep 2024 GMT+1
Brits warned they will be ‘intercepted’ when searching for illegal Premier League streams this weekend
They’re coming for you…
A number of sports fans here in the UK will have watched the Premier League through less than legal means at times, perhaps assuming that they’ll not be landed in trouble for it.
Each weekend, a smattering of matches are available to watch, but you’d need to be subscribed to some quite expensive streaming platforms or pay hefty one-off fees to get them.
Many other Premier League games are just not available for Brits to watch in full, given that there are rules in place around the 3pm kick-off to ensure the nation’s football fans go out to lower league grounds and aren’t shut up at home whenever there’s a game on.
As much as you might love Plymouth Argyle or Fleetwood Town, the temptation not to go down to the ground on a Saturday afternoon would be stronger if you could just stick on the telly and watch a Premier League match.
Plenty of Brits will be tuning in to the Premier League this weekend – but not all of them legally (Getty Stock Photo)
Illegal streaming is certainly a bee in the Premier League’s bonnet as they’ve successfully prosecuted people for this sort of thing before, and if the league gets its way they’ll be able to get more information on the people illegally streaming their games.
Two brothers were recently sentenced to a combined 11 years behind bars after a crackdown on internet protocol television (IPTV) streaming, which is often accessed through jailbroken Fire Sticks.
Sky have been working with police forces across the UK to target people doing this sort of thing as well, so you could land yourself in huge trouble trying to watch the footie.
Now, a new scheme has been put in place as people trying to access an illegal stream of one of the Premier League games this weekend will be ‘intercepted’.
Arsenal play against Tottenham Hotspur this Sunday (15 September) and some football fans will be looking for an illegal stream instead of trying to watch it on Sky Sports.
BeStreamWise is planning to ‘intercept’ football fans searching for an illegal stream in the hopes of protecting them from ‘the dangers of digital piracy’.
Is watching the North London Derby really worth the risk? (Visionhaus/Getty Images)
People searching for an illegal stream of the North London Derby will be redirected to another link provided by BeStreamWise.
However, what they’ll get to watch will be a literal stream of water while a comedian provides some commentary of the babbling brook.
It might be a bit of a prank but they want you to be aware of the risk you’re taking so you can watch 90 minutes of blokes kicking a ball around a pitch where your beloved team may or may not get absolutely tonked.
They’ve warned that going on the lookout for illegal streams may not only land you in trouble with the law but could leave you wide open for your devices to be infected with viruses and malware, or for you to fall victim to fraud and identity theft.
2.7 million devices belonging to Brits have ended up being infected due to illegal streaming, while 90 percent of illegal streaming sites are classed as risky.
Meanwhile, one in three people who admit to illegally streaming in the UK said they’d been targeted by fraud, identity theft or scams as a result.