Since last night, many IPTV users may no longer have access to their favorite platform. Europol, in collaboration with the Italian police and several European authorities, announced that it had put an end to a highly profitable illegal IPTV business.
250 million euros of turnover per month
With more than 22 million users around the world, this network allowed you to follow programs from Sky, DAZN, but also Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, completely illegally. Each month, this allowed us to raise 250 million euros.
The authorities discovered that “the majority” of this network provided access to European content, with an illegal turnover of “250 million euros” per month. An unexpected financial gain harmed by the operation.
Eleven arrest warrants were issued in different European countries, including three against “high-ranking administrators” located in England and the Netherlands. No site is mentioned in the press release, but the financial damage would exceed 10 billion euros for the rights holders. In total, 2,500 illegal channels and servers were seized, as well as cryptocurrencies worth more than 1.65 million euros.
The suspects were arrested for illegal distribution of audiovisual content through IPTV, unauthorized access to servers, computer fraud and money laundering.
But the fight against illegal IPTV is far from over. In France, DAZN is periodically hacked through Telegram groups. The platform, the only one that offers Ligue 1 at high prices – which has since dropped drastically – is a privileged target, in particular football fans unhappy with the turn that the LFP elections have taken during the summer of 2024, date on which the rights were reassigned.
Source: BFM TV
