They destroyed Europe’s largest audiovisual piracy network

Rome (EFE).- Italian police dismantled an international criminal organization that launched the largest network dedicated to audiovisual piracy in Europe, generating 3,000 million euros per year and more than 22 million users. used to provide content illegally, a report said this Wednesday. statement.

Italian police, together with police from other countries, carried out the largest anti-piracy operation in Europe, with 102 people from seven different countries being investigated for their ties to criminal networks.

Content owned by the most popular platforms

The organization used a sophisticated computer system with illegal IPTV to illegally stream live programs and on-demand content protected by television rights owned by the most famous national and international television platforms such as Sky, DAZN, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, etc. Used to capture and sell. Netflix, Paramount, Disney+.

In total, police seized more than 2,500 illegal channels and servers that managed the majority of illegal signals in Europe, with which the alleged criminals trafficked more than 250 million euros per month.

Italian police explained in a note that the macro-operation, called ‘Taken Down’ and coordinated by the Catania Prosecutor’s Office (Sicily), resulted in arrest warrants for 11 alleged criminals in Croatia.

In total, more than 270 Italian postal police officers carried out 89 searches in 15 Italian regions, while outside the country, foreign security forces carried out 14 inspections in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia and China.

The pirate signal was distributed throughout Europe

The investigation of the postal police made it possible to identify foreign headquarters in Romania and Hong Kong where nine servers were located through which pirate signals were distributed throughout Europe.

Senior administrators examined the IT infrastructure and 80 control panels of streaming flows for the various available channels were also located in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

During the search last Tuesday, more than 1,650,000 euros worth of cryptocurrencies and more than 40,000 euros in cash were seized.

Police estimate that the illegal business generates approximately 3 billion euros in annual income and causes economic damage to the companies managing payment platforms in excess of 10 billion euros.

They also reported that the network operated with a “complex, extensive and detailed computer infrastructure”, had a “hierarchical model with well-defined roles” and used false identities to avoid police investigation.