Italy: Police bust pay-TV ring, 5m viewers affected
September 18, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (Financial Police) has conducted a major anti-piracy operation resulting in the closure of the Xtream Codes platform.
The ‘Black IPTV’ operation targeted six European countries (Italy, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece and Bulgaria) and the estimated turnover of the illegal IPTV business is estimated at around €2 million per month. End customers paid a monthly subscription of around €12.
In Italy alone, some 5 million viewers will no longer be able to access illegally the content aired by pay-TV platforms such as Sky Italia, DAZN and Mediaset Premium.
A total of 23 people are under investigation, while credit cards, current accounts and computer accounts were seized.
The Italian Police claims that the second phase of the operation will see the prosecution of individual subscribers, who risk a jail sentence and a fine ranging from €2.500 to €25.000.