Pirated IPTV services generate over € 1 billion in profits in Europe alone. Many customers still prefer to pay for “hacked” services, even though they risk being arrested by the police. European authorities have dismantled several illegal networks and have even investigated users who use the service.
Italian authorities recently dismantled an illegal IPTV network and are investigating more than 50,000 users.
The operation was coordinated by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office, which dismantled a hacked IPTV network. Normally, in these types of actions, the operational entities only deactivate the servers and condemn those responsible for illegal services. However, as part of this Italian action, authorities will also investigate the more than 50,000 users who have used the service. IPTV customers can be fined for improper access to copyrighted content. The fines range from 2,500 to 25,000 euros.
The complaint was lodged by Italian operator Sky and also by the country’s Serie A football league.
Watch the video on Operation “The Net”
In Portugal, users who illegally distribute television signals commit at least four crimes punishable by five years in prison and high fines. The crimes in question are:
Usurpation – which can lead to up to three years in prison Protection of technological measures – Maximum penalty of one year in prison Illegitimate access – Imprisonment of one to five years Detention of illicit devices – The penalty can be up to three years jail
The operator’s losses are estimated at around 600,000 euros per month. In Portugal, the monthly price of the TV + Internet subscription is around 31.4 euros.
What is IPTV?
To avoid being part of such an awkward and outdated structure as traditional TV, many people started to use IPTV services and for this purpose use PCs, tablets, smartphones. But what is IPTV?
IPTV is a streaming service that allows you to watch national and international TV channels in open mode on the Internet. As such, there is a wide variety of channels that are free and can be used on almost any smart device.
In fact, with this system, it is enough to install an application like VLC Player, for free, on any smart device and with this list of open channels we can access hundreds of channels, not only national but from the whole world.