Advanced Television

Italian anti-piracy targets 500,000 IPTV users

January 26, 2022

From Branislav Pekic in Rome

An investigation launched by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office has dismantled a digital piracy operation known as ‘CyberGroup’ that provided illegal IPTV services to over 500,000 users.

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza carried out searches at homes of 20 people suspected of violating copyright law in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Campania and Calabria.

The investigation established that several individuals, who had access to the signals of the pay-TV platforms, were able to manipulate the subscriptions by overcoming the protection systems, multiplying them and reselling them to the final customers.

The technological structure, based in Naples, then distributed illegally the pay-TV signals to over 500,000 people who paid €10 per month for access to Sky Italia, DAZN, Netflix and other streaming services.

Among those under investigation are the mastermind of the CyberGroup, a Campania-based individual who is known in the piracy world, and a man in Tuscany who illegally distributed Sky Italia content via over 50 mobile devices.

The customers of the illegal IPTV service also risk receiving heavy fines, according to Italian legislation.

Categories: Articles, Pay TV, Piracy

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