You may be aware of a number of recent cases taken against licensees for the illegal broadcasting of premiership football via foreign digicards.
The FA Premier League have informed us that such cards are not authorised for use in the UK - they are only legal in the territories which have a contract with the FA Premier League eg. Albania, North Africa etc. However, we understand that they are being sold or leased to licensees by a number of suppliers as an alternative to Sky.
The FA Premier League hold the copyright for the broadcast of premiership football, and in the UK they have assigned the broadcast right to Sky alone. We must stress that where licensees have not been successfully prosecuted for allowing the illegal broadcast, this is because they were found not to have been knowingly dishonest in doing so. It has no bearing on the position with regard to the copyright issues surrounding foreign satellite football.
Infringement of copyright is an offence against the licence under the Licensing Act 2003, and it is not in the interests of licensees or companies to breach the law in this area. Further information on the legal position as received from the FA Premier League can be downloaded here.