The national police officers successfully stopped an illegal scheme of distribution of audiovisual content, which was in effect since 2015 and allowed to receive more than 5,300,000 euros. As part of the operation, eight people were detained in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Madrid, Oviedo and Malaga, and two homes were also searched. In addition, 16 websites were blocked for distributing IPTV content and illegally capturing and storing such content.
The investigation began in November 2022 after members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment complained to the executives of two websites where they allegedly sold video content contrary to their intellectual property rights.
A comprehensive computer and banking investigation, as well as other methods of police work, allowed experts from the Central Department for Combating Cybercrime to collect evidence indicating that the registered and managed sites were linked to several companies run by the main suspect, a Dutch citizen. It is assumed that this person headed a business and criminal network consisting mainly of Gran Canaria residents, which disguised itself as a legitimate business structure and allowed illegal income of more than 5,300,000 euros to be realized.
Thus, more than 130 international TV channels, thousands of films and TV shows have become illegally available to citizens around the world.
This international criminal group used advanced technologies and modern equipment to intercept signals transmitted via satellites in many countries. They then amplified and decoded the resulting multimedia content, which they then illegally distributed publicly. More than 130 international TV channels and thousands of movies and TV series have become available to citizens around the world. So they charged each of their more than 14,000 subscribers between 10 and 19 euros per month or 90 to 169 euros per year, depending on the type of subscription. All this caused damage to the copyright holders, producers and distributors of these works of art.
During the investigation, the main members of this criminal network were detained, most of them held high positions and performed important functions in creating, supporting and expanding the criminal activities that are currently being investigated. In Spain, two simultaneous searches were carried out — in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and in Madrid. During these searches, a car and two computers were seized. In addition, 80,000 euros were frozen in bank accounts.
Servers and 16 web pages managed by this criminal organization were also intercepted and blocked. Therefore, users attempting to access these resources are currently unable to do so and are redirected to the national Police web page, where they see a message about the page being intercepted.
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The investigation began in November 2022 after members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment complained to the executives of two websites where they allegedly sold video content contrary to their intellectual property rights.
A comprehensive computer and banking investigation, as well as other methods of police work, allowed experts from the Central Department for Combating Cybercrime to collect evidence indicating that the registered and managed sites were linked to several companies run by the main suspect, a Dutch citizen. It is assumed that this person headed a business and criminal network consisting mainly of Gran Canaria residents, which disguised itself as a legitimate business structure and allowed illegal income of more than 5,300,000 euros to be realized.
Thus, more than 130 international TV channels, thousands of films and TV shows have become illegally available to citizens around the world.
This international criminal group used advanced technologies and modern equipment to intercept signals transmitted via satellites in many countries. They then amplified and decoded the resulting multimedia content, which they then illegally distributed publicly. More than 130 international TV channels and thousands of movies and TV series have become available to citizens around the world. So they charged each of their more than 14,000 subscribers between 10 and 19 euros per month or 90 to 169 euros per year, depending on the type of subscription. All this caused damage to the copyright holders, producers and distributors of these works of art.
During the investigation, the main members of this criminal network were detained, most of them held high positions and performed important functions in creating, supporting and expanding the criminal activities that are currently being investigated. In Spain, two simultaneous searches were carried out — in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and in Madrid. During these searches, a car and two computers were seized. In addition, 80,000 euros were frozen in bank accounts.
Servers and 16 web pages managed by this criminal organization were also intercepted and blocked. Therefore, users attempting to access these resources are currently unable to do so and are redirected to the national Police web page, where they see a message about the page being intercepted.
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