Foxtel pirate convicted of criminal offences

[grimm]

Foxtel has said it will support the conviction and sentencing of a Sydney man who sold un-authorised access to Foxtel services to more than 8,000 Australians.

Haidar Majid Salam Al Baghdadi was convicted for criminal offences after he operated an illegal network which allowed Australians to access Foxtel subscription television broadcasts.

The conviction and 18-month suspended jail sentence is the ongoing result of anti piracy investigations involving the Australian Federal Police, Foxtel investigators and Irdeto – a digital platform security business.

Peter Tonagh, Foxtel’s CEO said he hopes the ruling sends a “strong signal” to Australians that the activity is illegal.

“Foxtel takes intellectual property theft very seriously as it severely undermines the creative industry including every business and individual that works so hard to deliver us the movies, sport, drama and entertainment we love,” Tonagh said.

“Foxtel conducts ongoing investigations into the theft of Foxtel programming and we are proud to work so closely with the AFP and our partners at Irdeto to ensure the full force of the law is applied to protect our content.”

Rory O’Connor, senior vice president of Cybersecurity Services at Irdeto, said the conviction would be “another step forward” in the global fight against piracy.

“The seriousness of these crimes should not be underestimated and this result is further proof that piracy will not be tolerated. Partnerships like this play a crucial role in not only detecting these pirate networks, but ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice.”