Major Police Operation Against Illegal Streaming of TV Programs in Europe

rome - Italian police, in collaboration with European agencies, conduct large-scale raids on suspects involved in the illegal streaming of TV programs across Europe.

Italian police, in coordination with European agencies such as Europol and Eurojust, have carried out a significant operation called 'Taken down' against illegal streaming activities. A total of 102 suspects are under investigation for providing illegal access to paid TV programs to approximately 22 million users across Europe. The operation involved 270 Italian police officers conducting 89 searches in fifteen different Italian regions. Additionally, fourteen searches were conducted in the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, and Croatia. Croatian police have arrested eleven suspects.

The investigation identified foreign offices in Romania and Hong Kong hosting nine servers responsible for distributing the illegal audiovisual signal throughout Europe, all of which have now been shut down. Moreover, in the Netherlands and the UK, three senior administrators of the IT structure being investigated were located, along with 80 streaming flow control panels for various channels (IPTV) accessible to the suspects nationwide.

The suspects face charges including copyright infringement, computer system access abuse, possession of access codes, and computer fraud. Over 2500 illegal channels and servers facilitating the majority of illegal signals in Europe have been seized. These operations generated an illegal turnover of over 250 million euros monthly (approximately three billion euros annually), causing economic damages exceeding ten billion euros to legitimate broadcasting companies. Some suspects have ties to organized crime and used the proceeds to fund other illicit activities.

The investigation was initiated following a complaint by the pay-TV channel Sky Italia. An advanced illegal IPTV system was used to collect and resell live programs protected by broadcasting rights from international platforms such as Sky, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, DAZN, Netflix, Paramount, and Disney+.

The police in Catania conducted months-long research, which was later expanded across Europe. The dismantled organization aimed to expand its operations by acquiring new clients and even considered altering its locations to hinder the investigation. Authorities have also seized cryptocurrency worth 1,650,000 euros and cash amounting to over 40,000 euros.