An ethnographic study of the retail market for illicit streaming devices within two towns in Northeast England

Potter, Lisa and Potter, Gary and Chatterjee, Bela Bonita and Zeng, Yongyu (2024) An ethnographic study of the retail market for illicit streaming devices within two towns in Northeast England. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis adds to the limited knowledge on the illicit streaming device (ISD) and illegal streaming subscription markets. This study provides a detailed insight into the retail market for ISDs within two towns in Northeast England. It also explores the use of illegal streaming subscription services amongst two public houses in these towns. An ethnographic approach was applied, involving interviews and observation in the field. It explores the market structure and mechanics of suppliers as related to retail level. Law enforcement have claimed that organised crime groups are involved in the sale of ISDs in the UK. My retailers were not aware of the involvement of organised crime groups in this market. The research findings provide a detailed understanding of how ISD sellers ran their illicit schemes and the methods they employed to build their customer base and avoid detection. Culture, risk, trust, and violence are themes that run throughout this thesis. This research contributes to the literature on illegal markets at the retail level. It also explores the rise and fall of an illicit market and buyers’ and sellers’ motivations for entry and exit. Understanding buyers and sellers as rational economic actors played a key part in understanding their entry into and exit from the ISD market. Thus, demonstrating the utility of using rational actor perspectives to study illegal markets. This study offered insight into the decline of an illegal market which provided an opportunity for meaningful and original contribution to the literature that goes beyond just being about the ISD market. The market ended because there was no longer consumer demand for ISDs rather than because of law enforcement action, which is commonly the reason illegal markets decline.