Billing itself as “The Future of TV, with “All channels, all films, all series in all languages,” the $250 Arubox.tv streaming service offers 3,500 TV channels from Québec, Canada, the US and worldwide. After first buying the service’s streaming device, users maintain subscriptions for $25 per month. At the time of this article, the Arubox.tv service was available.
“Right out of the box, they’re ready to go, saving you the hassle of setup. It’s our commitment to a streamlined user experience, so you can enjoy your TV without delay,” says Arubox.tv. The service is thought to have between 6,000 and 7,000 subscribers. By arithmatic, it is estimated that Arubox.tv has produced more than $1 million in illicit revenue.
According to reports by Quebec-based journalists, a group of telecommunications companies, led by Bell (Canada), filed a complaint with Sûreté du Québec (the provincial police for the Province of Québec) for signal theft.
This led investigators from the Criminal Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Bureau to conduct several searches on May 29. While the searches were focused on Éric Grenier, who has promoted Arubox widely since 2020 and is listed as a company administrator for Arubox.tv, searches were also conducted at the home of an alleged accomplice and at the home of a close friend.
About Eric Grenier
During the course of the police investigations that resulted in the May 29th searches, Grenier was also seen associating with members of the Hells Angels. He also had past involvement in the adult entertainment industry, earning him the nickname “Quebec’s Hugh Hefner.” In 2014, Grenier sentenced to five years imprisonment in the US on cocaine smuggling charges.
Possible penalties
At the time of this writing, the searches are being analyzed and no arrests or charges had been announced. Blocking orders against Grenier’s home and bank accounts may be requested. If evidence is deemed sufficient, the potential charges include theft of telecommunications services and several other charges. In addition, persons convicted of laundering criminial proceeds are subject to a maximum 10 year prison sentence.
Not the only seller
Arubox.tv is not the only provider offering the Z11 ANDROID FORMULER PRO MAX 4K. Amazon sponsors ads for the device in Google Search results and sells the box directly to consumers for $199 with no subscriptions; $100 less than Arubox.tv.
However, the Formuler box uses the MyTV Online app, which is widely used to install infringing IPTV services and is downloadable from the vendor. The Formuler Web site provides step-by-step instructions which begin by changing the device’s MAC and IP addresses.
Further reading (the original report)
Search at the “Hugh Hefner” of Quebec. Article. May 29, 2023. La Presse,
Why it matters
Charges of telecommunication signal theft are uncommon. According to La Presse, one of the last known police investigations into telecommunication signal thefts was conducted in 2018 by the RCMP when the federal police had searched a former Videotron employee and seized technological equipment in an investigation against Cielo 4K, an internet TV distribution service.
A police source told La Presse that more blocking orders may be expected as the result of the Sûreté du Québec’s investigations against organized crime.
“It is a demonstration of the strategy of attacking organized crime from all angles. We now have a money laundering office that falls under our organized crime division, so we decided to undertake this investigation,” said the source.
