Is illegal streaming as bad as shoplifting? Yahoo readers have their say
As illegal streaming continues to rise, the law has begun to clamp down on serial offenders, and earlier this week, a man who ran an illegal TV streaming operation was jailed for more than three years.
Stephen Woodward, 36, of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, made money by selling illegal access to copyrighted content, including sport. Woodward claimed to be making £100,000 a month through illegal streaming. As well as seizing £144,121 of cash, investigators secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1m held by Woodward.
Sky customers who used Fire Sticks to illegally stream TV content have also been warned they face being cut off, if caught. And earlier this month, two people were arrested over allegations of illegal streaming following raids by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police.
As the cost of living continues to tighten purse strings, and streaming services clamp down on password sharing policies, it seems the U.K. has a loose sense of morality when it comes to streaming content illegally, from sports, to TV and movies. And now, a new Yahoo poll has backed up this assumption.
In our poll earlier this week, Yahoo News UK asked our readers, "Is illegal streaming as bad as shoplifting?" It received 2,849 votes and showed 69% of Yahoo readers think illegal streaming is not as serious a crime as shoplifting.
The poll's Have Your Say feature attracted some passionate comments, with many readers focusing on the rising cost of streaming.
Jim H, from Glasgow, said: "If they brought it down to a reasonable price, people wouldn't need to pirate it, it's their own fault."
Similarly, John M, from Dundee, said: "The cost of living today has made it near impossible for disabled people like me to ever afford to watch these things legally, that the state is turning a lot of us to criminals."
The cost of living today has made it near impossible for disabled people like me to ever afford to watch these things legallyJohn M
Renegade from Cornwall echoed the sentiments, saying: "People wouldn't feel the need to watch tv illegally if the price we pay to watch tv legally wasn't so expensive."
Rick C from Nottinghamshire said that prices for legal streaming need to be more reasonable, "If the TV companies did not rip people off with there charges then more people would be prepared to pay (at a sensible cost)."
Finghard from Bournemouth said the whole digital media industry was in desperate need of an overhaul saying, "If I have bought the original in any format I should be able to purchase the next for a nominal conversion price using the serial number from the hard copy I own. Why should I pay again and again for what I already own? This is one of the issues why people feel the need to carry out illegal ways to watch and listen to entertainment."
Other readers took issue with the comparison between shoplifting and illegal streaming. Jason T from Newquay argued: "You aren't taking anything from anyone, plus people need to start cancelling subscriptions to send a message that the market is too fragmented and expensive and they need to move to the same model as music... Until the corporate greed stops. I fully support the piracy."
Susan V from Ely adds: "Shop lifting is a quantifiable loss and effects more small shopkeepers more meaningfully than illegal streaming affects huge companies like Sky."
On the other hand, there were some vocal critics of people who illegally stream content, pointing out the real world implications of the crime. Jim D from Birmingham said: "I can't abide media piracy. As someone with 25 years' experience in the creative industry, media piracy is blatant theft of ideas, hard work, and revenue. Look at the list of credits at the end of a movie to see how many livelihoods rely on a single project.
"Only the creative industries are stolen from in this way. If piracy continues to be thought of as harmless and victimless, pretty soon there will be nothing new, creative, or innovative to watch, just AI slop."
Media piracy is blatant theft of ideas, hard work, and revenue.Jim D
JR from South Yorkshire adds, "Funds from illegal streaming are used to support other crimes, such as drugs, child/sex trafficking etc. People only think about the cost to themselves, but don't think about the cost to society."
Yahoo also asked, "Out of 10, how much of a law-abiding person are you?" The poll results showed that our readers saw themselves as preferring to stay on the right side of the law.
This poll received 1,452 votes, with the most common vote being 9/10 and an average strength-of-feeling score of 6.59. This indicates many readers saw themselves as law-abiding citizens. However some comments were keen to point out that the punishments for illegal streaming don't match up to the severity of the crime.
Ed M from Glasgow said, "Disgrace putting a man in prison who gave people who can't otherwise afford sky tv a cheaper option, these big companies are making billions off us consumers. They just can't get enough money off you."
Owen J from Liverpool said, "Drug dealers get less than three years for selling drugs but it's ok for streaming services to extort people putting the price up each year and now there going stop people sharing passwords with family members."
The dangers of piracy
A government report published in November 2024 outlined the dangers of piracy, and how it affects the creative industries.
Illegal streaming services often lack parental controls, and could put children at risk of exposure to unsuitable material.
Illegal devices can be unsafe, as they are not required to be tested for UK safety standards.
Illegal streaming is a copyright infringement and you are committing a crime. You can also put yourself at risk of data theft, malware, and fraud, particularly if you are sharing banking details with a streaming service.
The creative industry employs more than 1.9m people and contributes £84.1 billion to the UK economy. By not paying for content you deprive the industry of money, and put the future of entertainment at risk.
Buying and using illegal apps and devices funds organised crime.
Crimestoppers say that 5 million people in the UK experienced a virus, fraud or personal data theft as a result of watching illegal streams, and 1.5 million people had money stolen from them as a result.
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