Back in 2014, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested Callum Haywood for bypassing UK pirate site blockade. Haywood undergone interrogation but was later released on bail. He also agreed to voluntarily give up a number of sites, although this did not stop the police from pursuing the case.
Among several other proxy sites, Haywood was also connected to the following:
- Piratereverse.info (Pirate Bay proxy)
- Kickassunblock.info (KickassTorrents proxy)
- Katunblock.com (KickassTorrents proxy)
- movie2kproxy.com
- h33tunblock.info
All the proxies above served as a copy of the original sites that are blocked by many UK ISPs. These proxies allow users to bypass restrictions imposed by the High Court. The police decided to continue working on the case even if Haywood was only hosting a few proxy sites and not operating any of the original sites.
Now after almost two years, PIPCU formally announced the charges that were related to his involvement with proxies from Kickass Torrent and Pirate Bay.
Here’s a breakdown of Haywood’s potentially long prison sentence under the UK law:
- 5 years – for possession of articles for use in fraud
- 10 years – for supplying articles for use in a fraud
- 14 years (max) – for converting and/or transferring criminal property which is money laundering
Although the blocking orders do not apply to all UK ISPs, PIPCU alleges that the way Haywood’s sites were set up was to circumvent the court orders.
A preliminary hearing at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court will be on April 21, 2016 in which Haywood is scheduled to appear on bail.