Premier League Pirates Caught Offside as Police Raid Their Car Wash Base

The Thai government's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has carried out a major operation targeting the supply of pirated Premier League football streams, illegal gambling, and associated money laundering. A total of 21 raids, in five regions of the country, includes one that targeted an office hidden in a car wash.

thai-premierMajor rightsholders are constantly seeking tougher legislation, more effective anti-piracy tools, and enhanced cooperation with governments and other stakeholders.

Even in countries where authorities view protection of intellectual property rights as a priority, achieving any of the above usually involves significant periods of negotiation. In Asia, where attitudes to IP crime vary considerably from one country to the next, tackling piracy may not be out of the question but may be considered less of a priority than other crime.

Thailand’s Perfect Storm
In Thailand, where anti-piracy operations are already more common than in most of its neighbors, legal Premier League streams are readily available at affordable prices.

Nevertheless, the piracy problem persists year after year, in part due to Thailand’s prohibition of most forms of gambling. In the absence of legitimate businesses to separate gamblers from their money, organized crime offers the forbidden fruit via illegal websites, with pirated Premier League live streams laid out like a red carpet.

The use of pirated content, to promote and support crimes typically considered to be more serious, provides rightsholders with a golden opportunity to place copyright infringement in the same conversation as illegal gambling and money laundering. An operation carried out by the government’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) this week shows how effective that can be.

DSI Raids 21 Locations Across Thailand
According to the DSI, an investigation uncovered a network of sites broadcasting live Premier League matches for free. These streams were used to attract potential gamblers who were greeted with banner ads and links to sites, including those operated from other countries, ready to take their bets.

The DSI says that Thai nationals and foreigners, mostly poor with no fixed jobs, operated more than 100 ‘mule’ accounts through which revenue from illegal gambling was processed.

To tackle all of the above, a joint operation on July 31 under the Ministry of Home Affairs, saw the DSI and the Minburi Metropolitan Police carry out raids at 21 locations in several regions of Thailand.

Image credits: DSIthai-raids1
The suspects reportedly operated around 10 websites from an office in the Minburi district of Bangkok.

A document obtained by TorrentFreak reveals several domain names including TVsod.com, Bee789.com, Ballza.com, 7mscorethai.com, 7mscorethai.net, Dooballdottink.com, Suckballhd.com, Amloin789.com and 7upth.com. At the time of writing, none are operational.

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“Two suspects were arrested: Mr. Athiwat (surname withheld) and Mr. Yutthaphong (surname withheld),” a DSI statement reads.

“They were arrested in front of the Songkhla Provincial Court, Bo Yang Subdistrict, Mueang Songkhla District, Songkhla Province, for the offense of jointly violating the copyright of others for commercial purposes by publishing creative works such as movies and artworks without permission.”

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The authorities say that the arrested men are programmers, responsible for running the servers used to provide the pirated match streams and operating ‘mule’ accounts for transferring money. The second suspect is also accused of receiving money from gambling websites.

No Longer Working at the Car Wash
A video released by the authorities on social media shows a press conference and various clips from one of the raided locations.

That appears to be a car wash and according to information made available separately, may have been involved in the supply/distribution of pirated Premier League streams.

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The scale of the law enforcement response suggests that washing cars probably wasn’t the extent of the business, butt that appears to be true of other images from the raids made available by DSI. That includes the image below which doesn’t appear to have an official explanation beyond being taken as part of the raids.

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The number of graphics cards tends to point in one direction, so additional offenses may be announced at a later date. In any event, whether from the car wash or elsewhere, the DSI is advising those intending to make a clean getaway to reconsider.

“In this search and arrest operation, the Department of Special Investigation would like to inform those involved or suspects with arrest warrants who intend to flee, to surrender or provide information to enter the justice process, because the Department of Special Investigation will not exempt offenders from prosecution.”