Dodgy box users have been warned that \u201cyou will face consequences\u201d as a crackdown on sellers begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
An estimated one in five Irish households have the devices, which allow them to illegally stream premium content.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and Sky have sent legal letters to 10 alleged dodgy box providers, warning they could be reported to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na if they do not stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn most circumstances, we use this tactic because it does actually work,\u201d FACT Investigation Manager Nick Summer told Newstalk Breakfast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s a lot of people who receive these notices who do actually comply;\u00a0 The notices are very clear – \u2018Stop selling the IPTV subscriptions or you will face consequences\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThose consequences are set out; it could be a further investigation, there could be civil proceedings or a referral to the Garda\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Mr Summer said the firm does sometimes report providers straight to Garda\u00ed, \u201cdepending on the nature of the activity\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn these particular circumstances, we prefer to go down this route to get people to stop of their own volition before further enforcement activity,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that is an attack that we do use, but on this occasion, we’re using the cease and desist notices.\u201d<\/p>\n Firms do check and if users have stopped using the devices and, if they do not, they could be referred to the Garda\u00ed.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May, legal letters were sent to hundreds of dodgy box users by Sky<\/a>, after their names and addresses were obtained in a civil case taken against a provider<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is, Mr Summers believes, an effective tactic, although he concedes it is \u201cvery difficult\u201d to judge how many people have stopped using dodgy boxes since the crackdown began.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of the service of these notices, it’s quite common for people to stop,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that’s why we use the tactic.\u201d<\/p>\n For those who continue to use dodgy boxes, Mr Summers said they should not assume it is a risk free undertaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey can’t assume that they’re going to remain anonymous in this process,\u201dhe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNumber two is there are very real risks of malware, other frauds and scams that can come through these devices, as well as inappropriate content being viewed by other family members.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it’s not without risk for the end user.\u201d<\/p>\n Main image: A TV and a remote control. Picture by: Deyan Georgiev – Premium RF \/ Alamy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dodgy box users have been warned that \u201cyou will face consequences\u201d as a crackdown on sellers begins.\u00a0 An…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-553592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}