Home / Crime and Justice / Pirate Streaming King Faces 10 More Years
Pirate Streaming King Faces 10 More Years
1 May
Summary
- Streaming boss ordered to forfeit £2.35m or face extra jail time.
- The illegal streaming service had 30 employees and 50,000 customers.
- Confiscation order is second largest for UK illegal streaming operators.
Mark Gould, the ringleader of an illegal streaming operation known as Flawless, has been sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison if he fails to repay £2.35 million within three months. This follows his original conviction in 2023 for providing pirated Premier League streams.
The Flawless organization employed 30 people and served 50,000 customers, amassing over £7 million in revenue over five years. Investigations into the operation have been ongoing since Gould's initial sentencing.
Four other individuals involved in Flawless, which also operated under names like Shared VPS, Optimal, and Cosmic, were ordered to pay back a combined £1.4 million. The total sum of £3.75 million across five defendants represents the second-largest forfeiture by UK courts against illegal streaming operators.
The prosecution was initiated in 2017 by the Premier League and the anti-piracy organization FACT. Officials highlighted the severity of the crimes and stressed the importance of depriving offenders of their illegal profits, warning others against similar activities.
This case reflects a broader trend of stricter penalties for illegal streaming in Europe, with a recent instance in Spain involving a fine of £7.5 million and a prison sentence for another ringleader. A special investigation also revealed that nearly half of surveyed football fans have watched games via illegal streams.
