NBEETV: Pirate TV-Box Sellers Shutdown By Local Police

[Len]

• Sellers of NBEETV – a pirate TV box, were apprehended by police with help from MPAA.
• Nanny Bee Corporation, the manufacturer and seller of NBEETV was run by a couple who marketed their service to offer “free TV for life.”
• This blatant marketing tactic coupled with openly available information relating to their business led to a quick shutdown.

Piracy related to TV-based content has reached an all-time high. Not only are there illegal streaming options online, but a new trend of piracy configured TV boxes have also sprung up. One such set-top box seller is named NBEETV, owned by a couple, Mickael Cantrell and Nancy Major, and advertised to deliver “every movie, every tv show that’s ever been made, plus live sports with no blackouts – no monthly fees ever.”

Now this kind of marketing aims to catch the attention of a maximum number of people, which it did successfully along with the that of police officers. Detective Darren Hill took notice of NBEETV’s offering, “We saw [the boxes] had Black Panther, The Shape Of Water, Jumanji was on there as well” and was dumbfounded by their unashamed marketing: “this is someone blatantly on the side of the road just selling them, with signage, a storefront; advertising on the internet with a website.”

Detective Hill became suspicious of the free service and took help from MPAA to further investigate into the matter. But what’s interesting is that, not only did NBEETV market themselves so blatantly, they also had a very transparent business for being a pirated-content provider. It can either be guessed that the two were total amateurs in the business or had no fear of consequences.

The company offered its original business address in the WHOIS records. Mickael Cantrell(a.k.a Michael Cantrell) provided his real name along with an email address which was easily traceable back to the company – Nanny Bee Corporation, the manufacturer, and supplier of NBEETV.

Besides this, the company had a YouTube Channel which offered tutorials on how to operate these NBEETV boxes. That too was under Cantrell’s real name and boasted Cantrell’s actual photograph which matched the mugshots published by ABC Action News.

During the raid, the Sheriff’s Office found nearly 50 pirate boxes stashed away at the store. Along with the couple’s arrest, the store was also closed down.