Three people from Bolton are still under investigation in connection with raids on a £3M suspected "illegal streaming" ring.
The raids were carried out by officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at City of London Police in Manchester in February this year.
A 49-year-old man and two women, 40 and 21, all from Bolton, were arrested along with a 40-year-old from Blackpool.
More than nine months on, a force spokesperson confirmed to the Bolton News that the investigation was now awaiting charging decisions from the CPS.
All four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute articles infringing copyright and suspicion of conspiracy to acquire criminal property.
One of the servers police say they found (Image: City of London Police)
They were all later released under investigation.
Officers say they seized ten servers and associated equipment with each item’s coming to around £75,000, meaning the total seizures came to a value of around £750,000.
Speaking in February, Detective Constable Jordan Day, of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at the City of London Police, said: “Criminals continue to provide illegal IPTV streaming services to consumers.
“These services are not harmless alternatives; they are examples of organised criminal operations generating millions in illegal profits.
“It is more important than ever that our team works to protect the integrity of broadcasting and the millions of people who rely on it.
“This operation demonstrates the impact we can have when we work closely with partners like Sky to dismantle these illegal networks, sending a clear message to those who profit from piracy that they will be held to account.”
Officers say they seized ten servers and associated equipment with each item’s coming to around £75,000, meaning the total seizures came to a value of around £750,000.
They say the investigation began after Sky reported suspicious activity linked to a suspected large scale illicit streaming service.
During the operation, officers shut down the servers on site and Sky confirmed that widespread disruption affected their suspected illegal streaming output across the UK.
Sky group director of anti-piracy Matt Hibbert said: “We thank the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit for taking decisive action against a major pirate operation.
“We take the protection of our content extremely seriously given the significant investment we make and will continue to work with the police and industry partners to disrupt the criminal networks behind piracy.
“People who watch illegal streams should know that it isn’t a victimless crime, recent research by BeStreamWise advise that nearly 65 per cent of illegal streamers have faced security scares like malware through these unlawful methods.
“This action will help keep consumers, their devices and their personal data safe.”
