The Ravenna Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza), with the support of the Special Units for the Protection of Privacy and Technological Fraud and Goods and Services and numerous other units of the outfit, carried out over 100 searches and seizures throughout Italy. These were commissioned by the Bologna Public Prosecutor’s Office as part of an investigation into the illicit distribution of ‘pirate’ subscriptions purchased by numerous customers to access paid audiovisual content offered, in particular, by pay-TV platforms SKY, DAZN, Netflix, Disney+, and Spotify.

The operation, ‘Tutto Ciaro’ (All Clear) which stemmed from social media monitoring, uncovered, for the first time, the existence of an innovative technology. This involves installing an application (called CINEMAGOAL) on customers’ devices that connects them to a foreign server to decrypt selected audiovisual content. To this end, virtual machines were deployed around the country, operating 24/7 to capture (every three minutes) and instantly retransmit the ‘original’ codes of legitimate subscriptions registered to fictitious individuals (some of whom have now been identified), thus sending an ‘unencrypted’ signal to the ‘subscribers’.

A highly advanced and previously unseen system that not only bypassed the security blocks implemented by the platforms, but also increased viewing quality, reducing the possibility that end users could be ‘intercepted’ by the control system: access to the aforementioned application, in fact, did not require the use of a connection directly associated with a specific IP address, further shielding the end user.

This very feature, in fact, was specifically advertised by those (over 70 individuals) tasked with distributing the ‘product’ throughout the country. They collected an annual subscription fee, costing between €40 and €130 (depending on the ‘packages’), through payments made (preferably) with untraceable instruments, since they were in cryptocurrency, or even to foreign and/or fictitious accounts. The retailers themselves subsequently returned part of the proceeds to the fraudsters.

The same judicial authority, making use of international cooperation with Eurojust (for the coordination of operations in France and Germany), consequently also ordered the seizure of the foreign computer media containing the data required to decode the protected audiovisual signals, as well as the program’s source code, which is essential for the functionality of the aforementioned application.

Furthermore, in the same investigative context, it was discovered that the more ‘traditional’ system of so-called IPTV, also known as ‘pezzotto’, was also being used for the same illicit fraudster

The material seized by the approximately 200 financial police officers involved is significant, and subsequent examination of this material may yield further useful information to identify all the individuals involved, including the final buyers, as well as determine the overall illicit profits amounting to millions of euros obtained in relation to the alleged crimes of audiovisual piracy, unauthorized access to computer systems, and computer fraud.

In this regard, with the assistance of the affected companies, an initial estimate was made of the growing damage caused to them over the years, estimated at approximately €300 million, taking into account the amount of uncollected royalties.

In the meantime, fines will be issued to the first 1,000 subscribers identified, ranging from €154 to €5,000.

Finally, it should be noted that the criminal proceedings are still in the preliminary investigation phase and that, regardless of the circumstantial evidence gathered that led to the issuance of the judicial authorities’ orders, in accordance with the principle of the presumption of innocence, any liability arising from the investigative context described will be definitively determined only following a final conviction.

Andrea Duilio, Chief Executive Officer of Sky Italia, said: “I would like to thank the Ravenna Financial Police and the Bologna Public Prosecutor’s Office for this significant anti-piracy operation, which demonstrates their growing effectiveness in combating even the most sophisticated technologies. Those who choose to stream content illegally not only line the pockets of criminal organisations with millions in profits, but also risk penalties and expose their personal data to theft and fraud.”

Other posts by :

1. Analyst: Years of subs growth ahead for Starlink
2. SES CEO: “Multi-orbit is now key”
3. More details emerge on SpaceX IPO
4. Viasat confident despite SpaceX threats
5. Blue Origin launch pad destroyed
6. AST SpaceMobile’s story “more than hype”
7. Musk to merge Tesla with SpaceX?
8. AST SpaceMobile aiming for 15-year satellite life?
9. SpaceX still targets intercontinental travel

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Business, Content, IPTV, OTT, OTT, Pay TV, Piracy, Policy, Premium, Regulation, Rights, VOD

Tags: anti piracy, dazn, Guardia di Finanza, sky