THOUSANDS of subscribers to the ‘Dreambox’ decoder television channels could be at risk of prosecution after police arrested a man they believe to be the mastermind behind the operation.
Two men from Limassol, a 51-year-old and a 50-year-old have been remanded for operating the network that provided cheap TV subscription channels illegally through the Dreambox decoder.
The two men who had thousands of customers in European countries and Cyprus were arrested following a police operation in Limassol that started on March 14.
“It appears that the magnitude of this offence is greater than initially thought and our technicians have traced that the signal was not sent only in Cyprus but also abroad to the UK, France, Greece and perhaps other countries.
“Some subscription channels were trying to trace the signal in other countries but finally it emerged that the signal was coming from Cyprus,” said Yiannakis Charalambous, Director of the central Crime Prevention Unit.
Dreambox holders could buy signal for €25 per month and watch even more channel options than those on offer by the two main companies providing legitimate signal in Cyprus at much higher rates.
Due to the popularity of the Dreambox, many users are now worried of the possible repercussions as police announced their determination to prosecute customers as well as providers.
“Concerning the subscribers, in my opinion they are committing an offence. They also have a share of the responsibility as they were taking illegal signal. The Attorney-general will have the final say on this issue,’ Charalambous said.
Police believe that the mastermind behind the illegal network is a 51-year-old English Cypriot who operated from his house in Ayios Athanasios in Limassol.
Following a raid on the house on Thursday police discovered five computers and five 32-inch screens, from where the 51-year-old was receiving legal signal and transferring it to his customers illegally through servers. Police also retrieved the details of 4,500 subscribers who were using the 51-year-old’s services.
Meanwhile, the second suspect, a 50-year-old from Limassol was operating from a shop right next to a legitimate TV subscription provider.
The 50-year-old transmitted the signal through 14 servers and until now police have found a list of 1,000 people who were his customers. Both men appeared before Limassol District Court on Thursday where an eight-day remand was issued.
