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Danny Mok

Hong Kong customs has arrested a restaurant owner for allegedly using an illegal streaming device to broadcast live football matches in Tung Chung, marking the first time an enhanced copyright law has been used against a catering business.
Officers found multiple television sets broadcasting an overseas football match to customers during a raid on Sunday night, Senior Inspector Chow Lai-man from customs’ intellectual property investigation bureau said on Monday.
The operation was conducted at about 10pm, when an English Premier League (EPL) match between Southampton and Liverpool was being played.
Two men, aged 27 and 57, identified as the restaurant owner and an employee, were arrested. Authorities have not ruled out further arrests.
Officers seized illegal streaming and network devices, along with three TV sets with an estimated market value of HK$18,000.
The restaurant, which seats 80 to 100 people, served alcoholic beverages and operated until late at night, Chow said.

She said it was the first time since the implementation of the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2022 that customs had applied “communication right” to detect cases of unauthorised communication of live football matches by restaurants during business.
The illegal streaming device was a commonly seen TV set-top box model, enabling the reception of football match streams from outside Hong Kong.
The operation was initiated following a complaint from a concerned copyright holder.
The amended law, which took effect in May last year, extended the protection of copyright to content delivered through streaming or new modes of electronic transmission, allowing investigators to seize devices even without actual video files stored on them.
Under the law, it is illegal to communicate copyrighted works to the public for profit without authorisation from the copyright owner. Offenders face up to four years’ jail and a fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,410) per copyrighted work.
Chow warned business operators against unauthorised dissemination of copyrighted works and advised the public to avoid watching infringing content through illegal streaming.
She also cautioned that illegal streaming applications or links might contain computer viruses or malicious programs that could pose risks to users.
In September, customs officers arrested a computer programmer and his father on suspicion of illegally live-streaming EPL matches from Now TV paid channels to more than 200 viewers. This was the first time customs had applied the amended law to combat illegal streaming devices used for broadcasting live football matches.
Officers raided the suspects’ public housing flat in the Lok Fu area of Wong Tai Sin district on a Sunday night, about half an hour after the match between Brighton and Nottingham Forest kicked off.
Customs officers seized a laptop computer, a TV decoder and an HDMI splitter, as well as audio and video equipment. The seized electronic products were worth about HK$20,000.
A Now TV decoder was connected to an HDMI splitter that was linked to a television. The computer, installed with software for streaming purposes, was used as a web server and a stream encoder.
The programmer was the registered subscriber of Now TV paid channels, while his father was unemployed.


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News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Restaurant owner in Tung Chung allegedly used illegal streaming device to broadcast live football matches


Restaurant owner in Tung Chung allegedly used illegal streaming device to broadcast live football matches.


English Premier League

Crime

Hong Kong society