You could face severe punishment for using an Amazon Fire Stick to illegally stream Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou’s fight.
You could face severe punishment for using an Amazon Fire Stick to illegally stream Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou’s fight.
On Friday, former two-time unified champion Joshua takes on ex-UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou in an eagerly anticipated boxing bout in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua enters the contest having secured three wins from as many fights in 2023, with the Briton plotting a return to the summit of heavyweight boxing.
Meanwhile, Ngannou only made his boxing debut in October, losing a controversial points decision to Tyson Fury despite flooring the linear and WBC heavyweight champion.
Joshua and Ngannou’s fight will be streamed live on DAZN in the UK, US and across the world, with Sky Sports also airing the action in the UK.
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New DAZN viewers can purchase the fight card and a month’s free subscription for £19.99, while existing subscribers can buy the event for £18.99. Moreover, Sky has priced the event at £19.95.
However, a warning has been issued to people who may use an Amazon Firestick to illegally stream the event.
Streaming live sports with such sticks is a breach of copyright law. In turn, the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT UK) are clamping down.
A spokesperson for FACT UK said: “FACT constantly monitors the digital landscape to combat illegal streaming activities in the UK and Ireland. We utilise a range of methods to identify individuals engaged in unauthorised businesses that offer access to illegal streams.
“One of these methods is through our partnership with Crimestoppers to make it as easy as possible to report illegal streaming, and over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of reports directly linked to Fire Sticks and illegal streaming.”
Joshua and Ngannou’s bout takes place in Saudi Arabia on Friday (Getty)
As per the Fraud Act 2006, it is illegal to watch or stream TV without paying the required fee.
Section 11 of the act covers “obtaining services dishonestly”, and that includes “knowing the services are made available on the basis that payment has been, is being or will be made for or in respect of them or that they might be; and avoids or intends to avoid payment in full or in part”.
People who fall foul of the rules could face up to 12 months in prison, while if the offence is deemed more serious it could become a maximum of five years.
