Abu Dhabi: The UAE Ministry of Economy (MoE) has stepped up its campaign against pay TV piracy by authorising the disruption of internet websites that allowed users to illegally view satellite TV channels without subscriptions.

The phenomenal growth of internet usage throughout the country has attracted several similar profiteering activities, which the Ministry intends to fully control at the early stages.

The latest MoE anti-piracy initiative, which began in the second week of June parallel to the Euro 2008 football championship, immediately led to the identification and disruption of ten Korean-based internet addresses.

"We received information that illegal operators were broadcasting Euro 2008 matches and other programmes unsubscribed over the internet and promptly co-ordinated with enforcement authorities to conduct a raid. We were able to identify ten foreign internet links and immediately ordered the disruption of connections to these addresses," an official from the Ministry said.