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May 14, 2021
Forty-five suspects and a flurry of searches that led to the seizure of illegal computer equipment, servers and devices used for connections and broadcasting activities. 1,500,000 users with illegal subscriptions were blacked out, 80% of the illegal IP TV flow in Italy was eliminated, 45 investigated for computer fraud for an illegal turnover of several million. The alleged offenses are criminal association aimed at committing the crimes of unauthorized access to an IT system protected by security measures, of computer fraud aggravated by the enormous damage caused, and of abusive reproduction and dissemination via the Internet of works protected by copyright and intellectual works. The blitz, aimed at contrasting the phenomenon of illegal IP TV,was taken in several Italian cities and required the use of 200 specialists from 11 regional Departments of the Postal Police (Catania, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Bari, Naples, Ancona, Rome, Cagliari, Milan, Florence, Venice) and in 18 provinces they have dismantled the complex criminal infrastructure, both from an organizational and technological point of view. The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.employment of 200 specialists from 11 regional Departments of the Postal Police (Catania, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Bari, Naples, Ancona, Rome, Cagliari, Milan, Florence, Venice) who in 18 provinces have dismantled the complex criminal infrastructure, both under the organizational and technological profile. The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.employment of 200 specialists from 11 regional Departments of the Postal Police (Catania, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Bari, Naples, Ancona, Rome, Cagliari, Milan, Florence, Venice) who in 18 provinces have dismantled the complex criminal infrastructure, both under the organizational and technological profile. The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.Naples, Ancona, Rome, Cagliari, Milan, Florence, Venice) which in 18 provinces have dismantled the complex criminal infrastructure, both from an organizational and technological point of view. The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.Naples, Ancona, Rome, Cagliari, Milan, Florence, Venice) which in 18 provinces have dismantled the complex criminal infrastructure, both from an organizational and technological point of view. The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.The investigations revealed the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for illegal streaming of content. for a fee via IPTV of the most popular platforms. An important "power station", which managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy, was identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy has been identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy has been identified, deactivated and seized in Messina.
The Catania District Prosecutor's Office coordinated in-depth investigations, lasting several months, in the matter of audiovisual piracy aimed at combating the phenomenon of illegal IP TVs, delegated to the Postal and Communications Police which had reported the existence of a complex technological infrastructure operating at national and responsible for the dissemination via the Internet, through numerous sites, of the illegally captured signal of numerous pay-TV content platforms (Sky; DAZN; Mediaset; Netflix etc.).
The IT technical study of the broadcasting of streaming signals carried out by the Postal and Communications Police of Catania with the coordination of the Postal and Communications Police Service of Rome has made it possible to identify the sources from which the pirated signal is distributed.
The Public Prosecutor in charge of the investigations, under the responsibility of the working group specialized in the field of computer crimes, challenged the 45 suspects for the crime of criminal association aimed at committing the crimes of abusive access to an IT system protected by security measures, of computer fraud aggravated by the enormous damage caused and by illegal reproduction and dissemination via the Internet of works protected by copyright and intellectual property.
An important "power station" was identified in the city of Messina, its deactivation and seizure revealed that it managed about 80% of the illegal IPTV flow in Italy. The criminal association is based on a pyramid scheme and sees the synergistic work of different subjects who, although not personally known to each other, are firmly linked to build the various pieces of the illicit structure. In this way, the contents protected by copyright are first purchased lawfully, as a digital signal, by the top management of the organization (the so-called "Sources") and, subsequently, through the preparation of a complex technical and organizational infrastructure, they are transformed into data IT and conveyed in audio / video streams,transmitted through a dense criminal framework to a capillary network of retailers and end users, equipped with a domestic internet connection and equipment suitable for reception (the now known "Pezzotto"). The complex investigations, carried out by the Postal Police of Catania, from the first investigations had highlighted the presence on Telegram, in various social networks and in various sites of bots, channels, groups, accounts, forums, blogs and profiles that advertised the sale, on the national territory, of accesses for the illegal streaming of paid content via IPTV of the most popular platforms. The investigations made use of complex computer analysis, documentary, bank feedback and observation and stalking services.During the searches, numerous computer material was seized as well as the servers and illegal devices used for connections and broadcasting activities. In the homes of some of the suspects, cash was seized for tens of thousands of euro, deemed to be the proceeds of the illegal activity.