TV-Links man: 'I'm no master criminal'

Website was 'just a hobby'

By Lucy Sherriff • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 29th October 2007 15:44 GMT

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The man arrested as part of the investigation into the TV-Links website has spoken to his local newspaper about his arrest.

In a story from thisisgloucestershire.co.uk, David Rock, a 26-year-old computer engineer from Cheltenham, says he didn't think what he was doing was illegal. Rock was arrested just over a week ago in connection with the closure of the TV-Links website, and released without charge.

"I'm not some master criminal. It was just a hobby," he said.

Rock adds that, following his arrest, he is worried about what might happen to him. "I've looked into the law and can't see what I've done wrong. If I thought I was committing a crime I would never have done it."

The TV-Links site allowed users to share links to various sites that host content from TV programmes and films. Astonishingly, not all of the content was legit, and this attracted the attention of the local trading standards office.

According to thisisgloucestershire.co.uk, film studios in the US contacted the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) when they realised people were downloading illegal copies of a raft of new cinema releases, including Pirates of the Caribbean 3. FACT then contacted local Trading Standards, which in turn called in the police to make the arrest.

At the time, FACT issued a statement from Roger Marles, head of Trading Standards, in which he said TV-Links allowed users to view "any one of a large number of films and television programmes directly via the website. This is illegal under UK copyright law".

When we contacted them, both Trading Standards and FACT declined the opportunity to make further comment, saying it would be impossible to do so while the investigation was ongoing. ®