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Illegally watching and sharing copyrighted content could land you in prison for up to a DECADE, thanks to the UK government's Digital Economy Act.

Following a recommendation put forward by the UK International Property Office (IPO) , the maximum prison term for copyright infringement has been increased from two years to ten.

And last week, the Digital Economy Act received Royal Assent, meaning it officially passes into law.

"I'm delighted the Digital Economy Act has become law," Matt Hancock, the minister of state for Digital and Culture said.

(Image: KickassTorrents)

"This legislation will help build a more connected and stronger economy. The Act will enable major improvements in broadband rollout, better support for consumers, better protection for children on the Internet, and further transformation of government services."

So what does this mean for those that engage in illegal streaming?

Kieron Sharp, the CEO of FACT , told Mirror Tech that the copyright measures included in the bill are primarily targeted at those committing a serious offense. Anyone "making a business" out of selling illegal content could potentially face up to ten years rather that two.

Those who casually stream a couple of movies every once in a while are extremely unlikely to be prosecuted to such extremes, he said.

"For minor matters, nothing changes," he said. "But it should hopefully provide a little bit of clarity."

Letter of the law

Regardless of the practicalities of enforcing the bill, the Act does mean those using streaming services or torrents to watch copyrighted material are - under the letter of the law - criminals.

As the Open Rights Group notes, Clause 27 of the Act states that criminal liability is to be determined by "causing loss" and "risk of loss" to the owner of the copyright.

This is defined as merely failing to pay a licence fee, so ordinary people engaged in domestic "filesharing" on a non-commercial basis could potentially find themselves facing long jail sentences.

(Image: Reuters)

Furthermore, the raised penalties could be used for speculative invoicing by predatory law firms.

There are a number of companies, often referred to as "copyright trolls", that look for evidence of copyright infringement online, in order to send threatening letters asking for payment.

"While we don't think that all those people are going to suddenly face criminal charges, they can be threatened with it," said Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group.

"That's going to fuel all kinds of copyright letter-writing - at its worst, the copyright trolls, who send people invoices saying 'You owe us hundreds of pounds for file-sharing and if you don't pay up we'll take it to court'.

"That's going to make that threat really serious, because it's potentially attached to a 10-year sentence. And that's going to make it much harder and much more onerous for people to say, 'No, I didn't do this, I'm innocent'."

(Image: Kodi)

Mr Sharp said that, in reality, the most a small-time streamer is likely to be threatened with is a six month suspended sentence and a costly fee.

However, at some point, an example could be made by prosecuting a casual user.

"At some point, someone who is illegally streaming is going to get caught. Although it's not our wish to go after the end user," he said.

Kodi crackdown continues

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies continue to crack down on people who sell TV streaming devices prepackaged with a range of Kodi addons that offer access to illegally distributed content.

Selling these "fully loaded" TV set-top devices is a breach of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

In December 2016, Terry O'Reilly was sentenced to four years imprisonment for selling illegal set-top TV boxes, a prosecution brought by the Premier League with support from FACT.

Then, in March, Malcolm Mayes, from Hartlepool, was sentenced to ten months in prison (suspended for one year) and ordered to pay costs of £170,000.

The boxes, which he sold for around £1,000 each, enabled his customers to stream live "pay to view" content - including live Premier League football - free of charge. Mr Mayes falsely claimed that they were "100% legal".

"I hope this conviction sends a clear message that criminal activity doesn't pay," said Lord Toby Harris, chair of National Trading Standards, at the time.

"I would also warn any person or business selling or operating such a device that they are in breach of copyright law."