The pirate service Bitplay, which, among other things, illegally provided access to premium sports television channels, live broadcasts of sports matches and selected series content, has been shut down. The service was shut down following a criminal complaint by the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) and a subsequent investigation by the Czech Police. The Association of Commercial […]

The Tokyo District Court ruled that Cloudflare, one of the world’s leading Content Delivery Network (CDN) service providers, is liable for the manner in which it provides its services, which facilitates copyright infringement. The dispute concerned the illegal distribution of popular manga titles with a global reach, including the ONE PIECE and Attack on Titan series. […]

Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police has arrested 4 people and seized 10 servers in Manchester as part of an investigation into a large-scale illegal IPTV streaming service. Officers executed warrants last week, confiscating servers and associated equipment valued at around £75,000 each, with total seizures exceeding £750,000 (€866,000). The investigation […]

The US Department of Justice has issued seizure warrants against three US-registered internet domains tied to commercial websites allegedly operated from Bulgaria and accused of distributing copyrighted content without authorisation. In a statement, the department said the services offered pirated copies of movies, television programmes and other content, including video games, software and e-books. According to […]

A coordinated international law-enforcement operation led by the Catania District Prosecutor’s Office and Italy’s Postal and Cybercrime Police has targeted an industrial-scale illegal IPTV network, with investigators naming 31 suspects following raids in 11 Italian cities and 14 countries.  ACE said the action took offline infrastructure serving millions of users, while Italian authorities and supporting […]

Over 23,000 audiovisual works were allegedly published on the internet without the authors’ consent. Police in Humenné charged a 32-year-old man who had been illegally making protected content available for many years. The damage exceeded tens of thousands of EUROS. The case was uncovered by the police in Humenné, who have now brought charges against the […]

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has contacted more than 1,000 people across the UK, warning them to stop using illegal TV streaming services or risk prosecution. FACT said the emails and texts follow investigations carried out with police forces nationwide and form part of its wider effort to raise awareness of the risks linked […]

The Paris Judicial Court has issued 2 rulings in favour of the LFP (French Professional Football League) and LFP Media, extending efforts to block illegal streaming of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. The decisions, issued December 18, cover the blocking of websites and IPTV services unlawfully carrying the matches, and also target tools used to […]

The grey area in various forms has accompanied the distribution of digital content from the very beginning. One of the leading technology managers spoke to Broadband TV News about this long-standing problem, which is now “exploding”. The interview, which was published a few days ago onBroadband TV News, warns of a dramatic increase in piracy, which has […]

Authorities in Germany have carried out coordinated raids across three federal states as part of an investigation into a suspected organised pay-TV piracy network. The action targeted four men aged between 41 and 51 accused of large-scale card-sharing and the illegal provision of IPTV services. According to the public prosecutor’s office in Dessau-Roßlau and the State […]

Amazon has announced a major action to combat piracy. Its Fire TV media box, which until now has allowed illegal IPTV streams to be played through various third-party apps, will gradually start blocking those apps. Amazon has not even allowed the installation of similar apps through its official app store until now. However, it was possible […]

Some of Europe’s biggest sports leagues, broadcasters and live event operators are urging Brussels to introduce new EU rules to tackle real-time piracy of live content, warning that current measures are failing to protect revenues, audiences and public services. In a joint letter sent to the European Commission in October, 36 organisations – including the Premier […]