The Spanish police have eliminated a network of illegal distribution of media content, whose turnover since the beginning of its activity in 2015 amounted to more than $5.7 million.
The investigation began in November 2022 following a complaint filed by the Creative and Entertainment Alliance (ACE), which reported intellectual property violations on two web pages. The sites hosted the illegal IPTV service TVMucho (Teeveeing), which, according to ACE, was visited by more than 4 million people in 2023.
The investigation revealed that the sites provided about 14,000 subscribers with illegal access to 130 international TV channels and thousands of movies and TV shows. Subscribers paid between $11 and $20.5 per month or between $97 and $182.5 per year, depending on the subscription level, which allowed IPTV platform operators to earn a total of $5.7 million.
According to police, the international criminal group used "the latest technologies and the most advanced technical devices" to intercept signals emitted by satellites in many countries. Later, the criminals expanded and decoded the multimedia content that they transported and then distributed publicly.
The Spanish police conducted searches in 4 districts of Spain and arrested 8 people who are allegedly involved in the operation of the scheme. It is assumed that those arrested are subordinates of the leader of the group, a citizen of the Netherlands, who is also under investigation.
Law enforcement officials confiscated computers and materials, $86,400 in bank accounts, and shut down servers that support 16 illegal streaming services.
Site visitors are now automatically redirected to the Spanish police website, where a banner about confiscation is displayed. Of course, users with an active subscription have lost their money, but this is not the biggest problem right now. Since the subscriber database has fallen into the hands of the police, this can lead to fines for people who bought access to illegal streaming services.
• Source: https://www.policia.es/_es/comunicacion_prensa_detalle.php?ID=16215
The investigation began in November 2022 following a complaint filed by the Creative and Entertainment Alliance (ACE), which reported intellectual property violations on two web pages. The sites hosted the illegal IPTV service TVMucho (Teeveeing), which, according to ACE, was visited by more than 4 million people in 2023.
The investigation revealed that the sites provided about 14,000 subscribers with illegal access to 130 international TV channels and thousands of movies and TV shows. Subscribers paid between $11 and $20.5 per month or between $97 and $182.5 per year, depending on the subscription level, which allowed IPTV platform operators to earn a total of $5.7 million.
According to police, the international criminal group used "the latest technologies and the most advanced technical devices" to intercept signals emitted by satellites in many countries. Later, the criminals expanded and decoded the multimedia content that they transported and then distributed publicly.
The Spanish police conducted searches in 4 districts of Spain and arrested 8 people who are allegedly involved in the operation of the scheme. It is assumed that those arrested are subordinates of the leader of the group, a citizen of the Netherlands, who is also under investigation.
Law enforcement officials confiscated computers and materials, $86,400 in bank accounts, and shut down servers that support 16 illegal streaming services.
Site visitors are now automatically redirected to the Spanish police website, where a banner about confiscation is displayed. Of course, users with an active subscription have lost their money, but this is not the biggest problem right now. Since the subscriber database has fallen into the hands of the police, this can lead to fines for people who bought access to illegal streaming services.
• Source: https://www.policia.es/_es/comunicacion_prensa_detalle.php?ID=16215
