A crime group suspected of hosting a
large-scale illegal IPTV streaming business has been shut down, following a collaborative
investigation by Europol, local police authorities in Greece, Cyprus the Netherlands,
Germany and Bulgaria and members of the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance
(AAPA).
The network is accused of illicitly distributing Greek,
Cypriot and foreign pay TV subscriber channels. These services were allegedly
offered through retailers throughout Europe and sold as a monthly illegal
subscription for as little as 20 Euros.
Following coordination of the investigations
of the Greek and Cypriot police authorities, raids were conducted in Greece,
Cyprus and Bulgaria, during which a number of suspects were arrested and two
servers used to provide illegal access to the channels were shut down. The
investigation also uncovered installed machine sites that work with the central
server to relay subscriber channels. The raids were coordinated by Europol and involved cooperation
with local police authorities. AAPA members Irdeto, the world
leader in digital platform security, and Nova, a leading
provider of home entertainment services in Greece, also supported the raids,
with Irdeto providing technical and forensic expertise.
“These raids, conducted by Europol in
collaboration with local police authorities and our members, show the
importance that law enforcement is placing on the issue of IP infringement and
represent another step forward in our mission to enable the fight against
piracy,” said Sheila Cassells, Executive
Director, AAPA. “AAPA members like Irdeto and Nova are at the forefront of
this fight against piracy and we will continue to take measures to support
enforcement activities and push for effective and consistent legislation to aid
this.”
“Streaming piracy is a growing problem
affecting content owners, broadcasters and operators in Europe and across the
world, and the enforcement activities conducted by organizations like Europol
and the collaborative police organizations show the seriousness of this crime,”
added Mark Mulready, Vice President –
Cybersecurity Services, Irdeto and Vice President, AAPA. “We are closely
aligned with the mission of the AAPA and will continue to work closely with and
support our customers, partners and law enforcement agencies to detect,
analyze, investigate and counter all types of piracy.”
