ONE of the world’s biggest illegal streaming networks, which was claimed to show thousands of premium channels at a discounted price, has been shut down.
The sites are said to have hosted movies, TV series and 2,500 channels such as Sky Sports.
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11 suspects were arrested after the raidsCredit: Getty
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As a result, 100 illegal streaming sites were shut down Credit: Alamy
In a huge police action in several countries across Europe, more than a hundred houses were searched.
Five addresses in the UK have been raided as part of the latest anti-piracy drive.
Law enforcement authorities, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, identified 102 suspects across Europe and 11 people were arrested.
At least 29 servers were seized along with around 270 pieces of IPTV equipment allegedly used to facilitate the operation.
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Because of this, a hundred domains were excluded.
“This sends a strong message that, together with our partners, we are committed to dismantling piracy networks across borders and holding their ringleaders to account,” said Matt Hibbert, director of Sky’s anti-piracy group.
“We will continue to support efforts to stop digital piracy and protect consumers from the risks of these illegal services.”
The network is thought to have earned more than £208 million in revenue per month.
Police seized around £1.3m in cryptocurrency and £33,000 in cash from properties linked to the scheme, as well as various drugs and weapons.
UK police worked with colleagues from Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland to take down the sites.
The largest part of the police operation was carried out in Italy, where 270 officers searched 89 properties in 15 Italian regions.
Mark Mulready, co-chairman of the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) – of which Sky and the Premier League are members – warned: “We will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies in Europe and beyond to enable them to successfully identify, investigate and prosecute pursuing large cross-border piracy networks.”
Police have carried out numerous raids in recent years in an attempt to crack down on illegal streaming networks.
In July, police and intellectual property watchdog FACT carried out one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal streaming in the UK, resulting in 40 illegal streaming operators receiving warnings.
Figures from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) show that the annual economic loss due to counterfeiting and piracy is £9 billion.
An expert recently told The Sun that cybercriminals can use jailbroken streaming gadgets to break into your Wi-Fi and then other electronic devices on the same network.
Warning about ‘jailbroken’ Fire Sticks
Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices, one of the most common being a ‘jailbroken’ Fire Stick, meaning it has third-party media server software installed on it.
The most commonly used software is called Kodi.
It can allow users unlimited access to new features and apps that the normal version of the device wouldn’t allow – but it’s not legal to use in the UK.
But it becomes illegal when the box is used to stream subscription channels for free.
It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices, which have come to be known as “fully loaded” – a term that describes how the software has been modified to allow access to subscription-only channels.
“These devices are legal when used to view legitimate, free content,” the government said at the time.
“They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illegal content, for example TV programmes, movies and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscription.”
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education