Police in UK arrest ‘world’s most prolific’ UFC pirate
PIPCU chief: “Our team is dedicated to combating criminals ripping off other’s intellectual property and so those who are thinking of taking this path should think twice.”
Most of the arrests for piracy of UFC events have been in the United States, but the effort is expanding internationally. Most recently to the town of Coalville, England (pop. 4.494, or so).
The UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit says it has arrested the world’s most prolific uploader of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) content. The 55-year-old, who TorrentFreak believes it has identified, was arrested at his home in Leicestershire this morning.
This morning officers from the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Unit arrested an individual said to be one of the world’s most prolific uploaders of both UFC and WWE content.
Traveling hundreds of miles north to the tiny market town of Coalville in Leicestershire, officers descended on the home of the 55-year-old man.
According to police the man is believed to be one of the internet’s biggest offenders when it comes to uploading wrestling and mixed martial arts content to both peer-to-peer and user-generated content sites.
The man’s home was searched and several computers were seized. He was then taken to a local police station for questioning.
The unit claims that the individual is responsible for uploading more than 3.2 terabytes of data, which is the equivalent of more than 3,000 videos.
Of course, that’s just his uploading. When it comes to total videos distributed things get much, much worse. PIPCU estimates that the files uploaded generated in excess of two million downloads at a cost to the industry of several million pounds (1 pound = 1.5 US $ aprox.).
Today’s operation serves as a clear warning to anyone thinking of uploading copyrighted material to pirate sites. This is not a victimless crime as copyright infringement is costing our creative industries hundreds of millions of pounds, said PIPCU chief DCI Danny Medlycott.
Our team is dedicated to combating criminals ripping off other’s intellectual property and so those who are thinking of taking this path should think twice, as it might result in a knock on the door from our officers.