The operation is over Gotha of Postal Police of Catania aimed at countering it illegal streaming, in the implementation of many searches and seizures in 23 provinces of our country. I am 70 people are currently being investigated for criminal associations of a transnational nature for the purpose of broadcasting conditional access to television schedules. They must also be held accountable for another series of crimes such as money laundering, fraudulent transfer of assets, impersonation, possession and production of false identity documents, misuse and forgery of non-cash payment instrument.
The investigations, developed from the continuous monitoring of the Internet aimed at combating cybercrime, made it possible to discover the existence of a criminal association organized in a hierarchical manner according to distinct and very specific roles (leader , deputy leader, master, admin, technician, reseller), whose garments are distributed throughout the country (Catania, Rome, Naples, Salerno and Trapani) and abroad in England, Germany and Tunisia. The organization specializes in the distribution to a large number of users, both national and international, of live programming and on-demand content protected by television rights, owned by the most prominent television platforms, through of the system of Illegal IPTVs.
Profits guaranteed only during the months of investigation are approx 10 million eurosbut the damage to the audiovisual industry may be more 30 million euros per month considering that today’s operation shed light on 70% of national illegal streaming equals more than 900 thousand users. The first investigations highlighted the presence on Telegram, on various social networks, on various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale in the national territory of accesses for illegal payment streaming of content via IPTV on the most popular platforms.
The small group of leaders is responsible for promoting and directing the association, deciding the costs of subscriptions, suspending service and methods of distributing devices and coordinating individual operators in the national territory. Furthermore, to evade investigations, the suspects used encrypted messaging applications, fictitious identities and false documents; the latter was also used for telephone registration, credit cards, television subscriptions and server rental.
Illegal IPTV streams were intercepted from users and during the searches, many computer equipment and illegal devices were seized for connections and streaming broadcasting activities. At this stage, the investigation concerns only the holders of top management roles in the organization as well as the resellers of the TV package (resellers), then the users of illegal services will be identified.
“As FAPAV, we applaud the important operation against piracy announced today by the State Police and ordered by the Office of the District Attorney of Catania, which once again revealed how hidden behind piracy are the true criminal mentality and large illicit profit” said Frederick Red bathsPresident FAPAV, Federation for the Protection of the Audiovisual and Multimedia Content Industries. “The phenomenon of illegal streaming of audiovisual contents represents a serious problem, not only for the cinema, TV and sports industries, but for the country as a whole, both from the point of economic development and industry, and related to information security and the protection of citizens’ privacy. This operation opens a new decisive period in the fight against piracy with many important institutional appointments, from AGCOM hearings related to the implementation of the Copyright Directive to the implementation of the Digital Services Act Regulation. Need to be more effective and timely. in contrast and in this direction I believe it is important that the bill against piracy, recently filed in the Chamber of Deputies, travels quickly and can be effective quickly”.
According to recent data FAPAV/Ipsos the total incidence of piracy of movies, series/fiction, programs and live sports is 43%. Among the modalities, the number of people who have used the services at least once is growing strongly Illegal IPTVs, which went from 10% in 2019 to 23% in 2021. The estimate of potential damage in terms of turnover, lost directly due to the non-use of pirated films and series/fiction, was equal to 673 million in 2021 and if we talk about the legal use of live sports due to illegal behavior, the estimate is at 267 million euros. Alarming numbers that have an important impact in economic terms on the industry and the country’s system, with an inevitable impact on employment rates (9,400 jobs are estimated to be at risk due to piracy and over 1.7 billion euros in turnover lost of all sectors of the Italian economy ).
Source: Red Capes
Benjamin Smith is a fashion journalist and author at Gossipify, known for his coverage of the latest fashion trends and industry insights. He writes about clothing, shoes, accessories, and runway shows, providing in-depth analysis and unique perspectives. He’s respected for his ability to spot emerging designers and trends, and for providing practical fashion advice to readers.
