Authorities dismantle ring illegally selling access to pay TV channels

AMMAN — The National Library Department (NLD) on Tuesday dismantled a major ring which was illegally supplying pay satellite channel feeds to some 30,000 subscribers in Amman.

The NLD received information about a group of non-Jordanians who were illegally selling subscriptions to paid satellite channels at “very” low monthly subscriptions. 

Its teams then moved to the location, which is an office in Tlaa Al Ali and seized the devices, referring those involved to the concerned authorities.

The ring was selling pirated access to satellite premium packages without subscription — known as card sharing.

“This is the first time ever that such a case is reported in Jordan…This is a major operation that we have foiled. The group of non-Jordanians charged around $14-$15 per month for each subscription, and they had 30,000 subscribers,” NLD Director General Mohammad Abbadi told The Jordan Times.

“We closed the office and confiscated the servers and the equipment, valued at more than JD150,000,” said Abbadi.

Those involved in the case used the devices to decrypt pay satellite channels, including sport channels, and sold subscriptions to users, which is illegal and a violation of the Copyrights Law. 

The law stipulates that it is a crime to download software, music or movies that are right-protected.

Offenders face a prison sentence of between three months and three years and a fine ranging from JD1,000 to JD6,000.

According to Abbadi, more than 350 cases have been referred to the court that deals with intellectual property right infringements since the beginning of this year.

More than 100,000 pirated items have been confiscated, including DVDs, CDs and other items such as books, according to Abbadi.