Sky has issued legal warning letters to approximately 200 households across Ireland accused of using illegal IPTV “dodgy box” services, marking a significant escalation in the broadcaster’s crackdown on piracy.
The letters reportedly demand recipients sign a legally binding undertaking promising to stop accessing unauthorized Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services immediately. Users are also warned that failure to comply could lead to further legal action.
According to reports, the move is backed by several sports broadcasters, including Clubber TV, LOITV, GAA+ and Premier Sports, all of whom have been impacted by illegal streaming services.
Irish Independent technology editor Adrian Weckler described the correspondence as effectively a cease-and-desist campaign aimed at intimidating users into abandoning the devices.
“They’ve sent out legal letters now to those individual dodgy box users in those households and with this threatening letter, essentially it’s a cease and desist,” Weckler said during an appearance on Newstalk Breakfast.
He added that Sky appears to be deliberately stopping short of launching full court proceedings against individual users.
“They’re trying to walk a bit of a tightrope because they could have gone for the full prosecution of those 200 individuals,” he said.
“They arguably would have succeeded there and that would have meant taking them to court under a civil prosecution under the Copyright Act.”
The latest action follows a High Court ruling in March ordering Revolut Bank UAB to hand over the names and addresses of 304 suspected IPTV subscribers, along with details linked to 10 resellers.
Despite the legal pressure, Weckler suggested it remains difficult for broadcasters to directly identify households using dodgy box services.
“It’s very unlikely” that Sky can independently determine whether a home is using an illegal IPTV device, he said.
Industry estimates suggest as many as 400,000 households in Ireland may be accessing pirated television content through dodgy boxes, although only a small fraction have received warning letters so far.
The investigation is understood to stem from a separate probe involving David Dunbar, from Manor Crescent, Roxborough Manor, Co Wexford, who was previously identified as a provider of the IPTV streaming service “IPTV is Easy”.
