With a string of new TV deals for the 2025/26 season, LaLiga is renewing its commitment to combat audiovisual piracy, which it says presents the biggest threat to the sports and entertainment industry.
LaLiga is urging sports fans to watch coverage through legal channels – in the UK this means Disney+ and Premier Sports.
Spanish football clubs alone lose an estimated €600–700 million annually resulting from unauthorised retransmissions.
However, the league is quick to point out that the penalties go beyond just financial losses. It estimates more than 50% of online viruses are linked to pirated content or illegal download platforms.
LaLiga has launched a campaign “You Get Pirated Football, They Get You”, highlighting the role of the criminal networks that are behind the illegal streams.
Spain remains one of the top countries in Europe for pirated audiovisual content consumption, especially among younger audiences, according to data from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
Source: broadbandtvnews.com German investigators have struck a significant blow against illegal IPTV operations, arresting suspects, seizing servers, and confiscating assets worth around €500,000.
The large-scale anti-piracy action was coordinated by the Criminal Police Inspectorate in Weiden and the Central Office for Cybercrime Bavaria (ZCB), following investigations that began in early 2024.
Five men – three 25-year-old Germans, a 25-year-old Austrian, and a 27-year-old Azerbaijani – are suspected of reselling premium streaming services, including those of a German provider and Netflix, to paying customers through an illicit IPTV platform.
On 3 June 2025, after months of preparation, simultaneous raids were carried out at nine locations: one in the district of Tirschenreuth, two in Munich, one in the district of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, and five in Hamburg. More than 100 officers were involved in the coordinated operation, led from Weiden in cooperation with a ZCB prosecutor.
Three suspects were initially remanded in custody. The arrest warrant for a 25-year-old from Munich has since been lifted after initial analysis of seized data failed to confirm strong suspicion, though investigations continue.
Another suspect from Hamburg faces additional charges: preliminary evidence from his seized devices suggests incitement to severe child sexual abuse via a messenger service, as well as involvement in the creation and possession of child abuse material. A 25-year-old software developer from the Tirschenreuth district, believed to be the main perpetrator, remains in custody.
The suspects allegedly operated with advanced IT knowledge and a sophisticated server infrastructure. Securing digital evidence was therefore a priority. The mobile forensic lab “Paladin” from the Upper Franconia Police Headquarters was deployed to ensure rapid on-site data capture.
With assistance from cybercrime specialists in Amberg, Regensburg, Munich, Upper Franconia, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office and Hamburg’s LKA, investigators seized extensive hardware and storage media. Many encrypted devices were successfully unlocked on site.
Given the suspected financial gains from the illegal streaming scheme, investigators also focused on confiscating assets. Cash, gold coins, and cryptocurrencies valued at approximately €500,000 were secured, with the help of specialists in asset recovery and cryptocurrency tracing.
The operation yielded what investigators called a “major interim success”: an entire server infrastructure, numerous mobile phones, USB sticks, gaming consoles, and large volumes of cloud data were secured. Several servers abroad, allegedly used to operate the illicit IPTV services, were also seized. Processing the terabytes of data is underway and will still take some time.
The suspects face charges of commercial unlawful exploitation of related rights under the German Copyright Act. Customers who subscribed to the illegal IPTV services should also expect criminal proceedings. One suspect faces additional accusations of incitement to severe child sexual abuse, commissioning the production of child abuse material, and possession of such content.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com An argument frequently used by rights holders as they attempt to persuade consumers not to view illegally obtained content has been given new backing.
A new study released by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), has found consumers are up to 65 times more likely to be infected with malware when using piracy sites as compared to legitimate websites.
The report, Consumer Risk from Piracy in Southeast Asia explored activity in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“As this study makes clear, the risks and ramifications substantially increase for those in Southeast Asia who visit piracy sites,”
said Study author Dr Paul Watters. a cybersecurity researcher and thought leader at Cyberstronomy. “Though efforts to curb digital piracy are ongoing, these stark results require additional action – such as smart tools and proven measures – to mitigate the relevant digital threats in each country.”
Overall, the study concluded that piracy sites – including streaming piracy platforms, P2P networks, IPTV services, scam portals, anime piracy sites, and manga repositories – carry a cyber threat risk more than 22 times higher than that of mainstream legitimate sites.
“The research findings reaffirm the extensive harms piracy networks inflict upon consumers and the economy in Southeast Asia,” said Larissa Knapp, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Protection Officer for the Motion Picture Association. “We applaud Dr. Watters and his team for their work in revealing the dangers of using these illicit sources, and we look forward to further collaboration with law enforcement throughout the region to detect these bad actors, deter future misdeeds, and dismantle unlawful operations that endanger a thriving creative marketplace.”
Peer-to-peer networks, scam portals, and streaming piracy sites carry the highest relative risks of cyber threat, while consumers in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia have the highest average relative risk of encountering a cyber threat from a piracy service – each approaching or exceeding a 34-fold increase over legitimate sites.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com
A man who pocketed £300,000 through the operation of an illegal streaming service before he fled the country, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Mark Brockley, 56, ran a subscription-based IPTV service known as aFINITY IPTV for around five years, between 2014 and 2019.
The sentencing follows an investigation led by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), following a referral from BT, which identified Brockley as being involved in the illegal sale of streaming services.
Brockley was arrested and later charged with fraud and copyright offences at Liverpool Crown Court in June 2021. After being released on police bail, he failed to appear at multiple court hearings, and sentencing proceeded in his absence in May 2023.
Financial investigations revealed that Brockley had been using bank accounts based in France. Further digital enquiries eventually traced him to an apartment block in Spain. In August 2024, he was located and arrested in Girona during a coordinated operation involving the PIPCU, National Crime Agency (NCA), Europol, and Interpol.
However, having been released pending further investigation, Brockley appealed his extradition back to the UK and was subsequently bailed. He failed to attend multiple court hearings in Spain and was circulated as wanted by Spanish authorities.
In a coordinated effort between UK and Spanish authorities, Brockley was eventually arrested at Barcelona Airport while attempting to board a flight to the UK last week (Friday, 20 June).
He was remanded in custody at Heathrow Airport and will now commence his five-year sentence.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com Spanish LALIGA clubs are losing between €600 and €700 million a year as a result of online piracy, according to LALIGA president Javier Tebas.
Last season, LALIGA introduced new AI monitoring technology to monitor registration patterns, track suspicious behaviour in traffic and amplify the capacity of teams working to detect fraud. As previously reported in Broadband TV News, LALIGA has also been engaged in the dynamic blocking of IP addresses.
Speaking at the second edition of the LALIGA EXTRATIME industry forum in Singapore, Tebas said:
“Fighting audiovisual fraud has a high cost for LALIGA, but we choose to lead, because the cost of not doing so is much higher. We are facing highly organised criminal networks that cause unimaginable damage across the economy.”
“The scale of the challenge means that there must be total commitment at the institutional level and between companies, both in the sports industry and technology. This fight is global and collaborative, and we must also act by denouncing the inactivity of some intermediaries, who are allowing criminal content to be shared through their infrastructures,” he said.
Delegates heard that according to a report by the Live Content Coalition (LCC), 10.8 million illegal sports broadcasts were detected in Europe alone in 2024.
LALIGA participated in 2024 in Operation Kratos, led by Europol, which succeeded in dismantling a network of 22 million users in Europe. In this operation, weapons and drugs were also seized in searches. Legal milestones have also been achieved, such as the landmark ruling that allowed LALIGA to carry out dynamic IP blocking. In addition, LALIGA has strengthened its cooperation with responsible intermediaries such as Meta, YouTube or TikTok in recent seasons.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com Piracy has become normalised for four out of ten adult Italians who now consume unlicensed services.
According to a Fapav-Ipsos report, in 2024, 38% of Italians used audiovisual content illegally. The figures represent the loss of €2.2 billion in turnover, an estimated loss of €904 million and over 12,000 jobs.
“It is not just an economic or industrial problem but increasingly takes on a social connotation where the individual pirate becomes part of a criminal system, whose only objective is business,”
said Federico Bagnoli Rossi, president of Fapav.
While the February 2024 introduction of the so-called Piracy Shield has helped – the blunt instrument has managed to take down legal streams as well as the illegal ones – it applies only to sport, leaving movies and series available to the domestic hackers.
“The new regulation from AGCOM regarding a 30-minute block is producing initial results. There is still much to be done, but the path taken is the right one. We are convinced of this, and in the next report, we will have specific data. This slight contraction does not overall diminish the seriousness of the phenomenon, which remains alarming, especially in terms of the economic damage caused to audiovisual and sports industries, as well as to the economic and employment system of our country”.
The cost is put at €61 million in lost admission fees, translating to damages of €530 million, a figure that rises to €778 million when the impact on legal subscriptions is included.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com Italian public broadcaster RAI has joined the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP).
As part of RAI’s membership. IBCAP will provide monitoring and takedown services for all of Rai’s channels, including Rai Uno, Rai News 24, Rai Movie and Rai Sport, which offer family entertainment, news, sports and talk show programming. Rai Italia will also be included under IBCAP’s protection, which features variety shows, sports, and other popular programming for Italian communities around the world. Rai television programming, movies, sporting events and other content are available in 174 countries on five continents.
“We welcome Rai to the IBCAP coalition and look forward to further expanding our coverage umbrella with the addition of Italian channels,” said Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP. “Rai’s membership, alongside that of BBC and NHK, represents another leading national broadcaster entrusting IBCAP with reducing piracy of their content.”
With nearly 16 million people in the United States identifying as Italian American, Italian-language content is a popular media source for piracy and illegal streaming services.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com MultiChoice has run a four-day anti-piracy training and enforcement operation in Malawi, the first stage of a long-term initiative to combat piracy and protect the creative economy in the South East Africa country.
21 participants, including officers from the Malawi Police Service, prosecutors, and representatives from the Ministry of Justice, were involved in the event, which covered topics including types of piracy, enforcement techniques, legal frameworks, and the growing threat of internet streaming piracy.
A seminar held on 21 May 2025 was followed by a successful enforcement operation was carried out in Lilongwe, Malawi’a capital city.
Acting on intelligence and strategies discussed during the training, the Malawi Police Service, with support from COSOMA, raided an illegal internet streaming operation. Two suspects were arrested, and several hundred pieces of pirate streaming equipment were seized.
Frikkie Jonker, MultiChoice Group Africa Anti-Piracy Director, said:
“This raid is a testament to what can be achieved through strong partnerships and dedicated training. We are proud of the collaboration with the Malawi Police Service and COSOMA and commend them for their swift action and commitment to enforcement. This is the first of many efforts to come in Malawi, and we look forward to supporting more initiatives that strengthen content protection and uphold the rule of law.”
Under Malawi law anyone with devices capable of infringing copyright law faces to a fine of MWK 10,000,000 (€5,000) and imprisonment for four years. The fine can be increased by MWK 50,000 for each day during which the offence continues.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com With the gradual development of television services via the Internet, a group of unauthorized distributors has emerged alongside legal and established pay-TV operators, supplying content illegally at a fraction of the price. Alternatively, fraudsters appear who do not deliver the content at all, or deliver it in poor quality, and even attempt to compromise the viewer’s device with malicious code.
According to several studies and research, piracy of audiovisual content has been significantly reduced, mainly thanks to streaming services, where users pay a flat fee for access to a very rich video library of various films, series, and exclusive content. However, unauthorized reception persists, especially for sports broadcasts, which are very attractive to viewers and increasingly expensive for television stations and operators. However, with the gradual development of internet television services, a group of unauthorized distributors has emerged alongside legal and established operators, supplying content illegally at a fraction of the price. In some cases, outright fraudsters appear who do not deliver the content at all or deliver it in poor quality, and even attempt to compromise the viewer’s device with malicious code.
However, current developments require cooperation between authorities and companies and institutions focused on combating illegal activities. Several European countries have already made sufficient progress to enable law enforcement agencies to take effective action against those who illegally distribute sports content and to warn those who often unknowingly watch pirated content. In many cases, illegal IPTV platforms are indistinguishable from legal operators. Thanks to highly effective marketing via social networks and naturally lower prices, unauthorized providers can win viewers over without them realizing that they are breaking the law.
This is one of the reasons why, in Italy, for example, the authorities have focused on other types of repression instead of imprisonment. More important is education, awareness, and fines imposed at realistic levels so that they are not ruinous. For example, fines imposed in March and April this year in Italy affected more than 2,000 people and ranged from €154 to €1,032. If someone reoffends, they face a fine of up to €5,000, at least according to material published on the Advanced Television website.
However, education is also important, and advanced technical means also play a role. It is not just a matter of detecting illegal streams, but above all of blocking them effectively. For example, a court in France has already ordered the blocking of illegal streams by companies operating VPN services. This can be a very effective measure, especially for ordinary viewers who cannot distinguish between the offerings of an unauthorized operator and a legal service.
Combating pirate distribution in the online world is a very long-term endeavor. However, it is positive that the authorities are now focusing primarily on education, technical measures, and appropriate fines, rather than resorting to very strict or even punitive sanctions. This approach may ultimately be even more effective in the fight against piracy.
Source: tvkompas.cz The Paris Judicial Court has ruled in favour of Canal+ ordering the blocking of 203 domain names associated with illegal sports streaming sites by five VPN providers.
Under the ruling, NordVPN, Cyberghost, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and Proton are now required to block access to 203 domain names used to illegally stream UEFA Champions League, Premier League, and Top 14 matches. Canal+ holds the exclusive broadcasting rights to the three competitions in France.
Canal+ welcomed the decision, which it said sends a strong message regarding the responsibility of VPN providers, recognising them for the first time as “technical intermediaries” in the illegal broadcasting of sports content.
“The group is proud to have initiated this major step forward in the fight against sports piracy in France and beyond, setting a legal precedent”.
The decision, a legal first, follows previous court orders obtained in 2022 targeting illegal streaming sites via Internet Service Providers, in 2024 via alternative DNS providers, and in 2025 via CDN and proxy services, this new ruling against VPNs is fully aligned with the group’s strategy to hold all types of technical intermediaries accountable in the battle against audiovisual piracy.
Canal says protecting its content remains a top priority.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com