Law enforcement agencies in Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia and England, the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Croatian State Attorney Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, and supported by Europol and Eurojust, announced the takedown of what was said to be the world’s largest transnational piracy organisation.
The operation was alleged to be serving pirated audiovisual content to more than 22 million users, generating over 250 million euros in illegal revenue per month and €3 billion annually.
Sting operation
The operation, conducted on November 26, was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust and involved over 270 officers from the Polizia Postale carrying out 89 property searches in 15 Italian regions. An additional 14 searches were conducted by law enforcement agencies abroad, including five addresses in the UK, and further searches and seizures in the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Germany and Croatia.
Results of the operation include:
- 102 suspects identified
- 11 people arrested
- Over 112 house searches conducted
- At least 29 servers seized
- 100 domains taken down
- 270 IPTV equipment/devices seized
- Over 560 resellers identified
- Various drugs and weapons seized
The action created widespread disruption to the piracy landscape, while €1.7m in crypto currency and €40k cash was seized among other equipment.
Methodology
According to a prepared statement, Europol had supported this international case since its inception by organising several virtual meetings and hosting an operational meeting at the Europol Headquarters in The Hague. During the investigation phase, Europol analysed the available intelligence, provided cross-match reports and coordinated the next steps with Eurojust.
Ultimately, the investigation targeted 102 suspects, 11 of whom were arrested by the Cybercrime Division of the Croatian Police, for distributing material from streaming services online illegally, including movies and series.
Participants in the operation
In addition to Europol, Eurojust and the national and regional law enforcement agencies identified above, the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) and the @ON Network contributed to the anti-piracy operation.
AAPA members who supported the action day included The Premier League, Sky Group, Nagravision, Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), beIN Sports, United Media, Friend MTS and Irdeto.
“We’re grateful to the Polizia di Stato, Europol, AAPA, and all law enforcement agencies for their collective efforts in achieving this great result,” said Matt Hibbert, Group Director of Anti-Piracy at Sky. “This sends a strong message that, alongside our partners, we are committed to dismantling pirate networks across borders and holding their ringleaders accountable. We will continue supporting efforts to end digital piracy and protect consumers from the risks of these illegal services.”
Further information
AAPA Members join forces with law enforcement in the world’s larget-ever operation against audiovisual piracy. Press release. November 27, 2024. Audiovisual Anti-piracy Alliance (AAPA)
European law enforcement stops illegal IPTV service providers. Press release. November 27, 2024. Europol
Why it matters
“The scale of these multi-jurisdictional law enforcement actions highlights the considerable challenge our industry faces when dealing with such sophisticated international pirate networks,” said Mark Mulready, Co-president of AAPA. “We are proud to have collaborated with our law enforcement partners to provide technical training and in-field support to assist them in successfully tackling the world’s largest pirate network.”
Digital piracy harms the entertainment and creative industries across the continent and is often run by sophisticated criminal networks that may use their profits to fund other serious forms of criminal activity. At the same time, illegal streams can expose the end user to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.
