Blog Post

Eurojust co-ordinates action against massive pay TV fraud following action initiated by Sky Italia.

AAPA

A multi-country action day coordinated by Eurojust in The Hague led to the dismantling of an international criminal network committing massive fraud with pay-TV, which shows organised crime expanding its illegal activities to large-scale violations of audiovisual copyright. The actions taken in this unique case in the European Union are the result of complex investigations conducted by prosecutors from Naples and Rome, with the support of judicial and police authorities from Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, France, and the Netherlands, as well as Eurojust. The damage caused by the criminal gang amounts to approximately €6.5 million, jeopardising the existence of many legal providers of pay-TV on the market. More than 200 servers were taken offline in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and over 150 P ayPal accounts of the criminals were blocked. Eurojust, the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit, set up its 100th coordination centre, since the first in 2011, to support on the spot the national authorities in swiftly disrupting the illicit activities. Today’s simultaneous operation led to the disruption of the signal for illegal pay-TV viewers in Europe, who benefitted from a subscription fee far below market value.

A press conference on the case was held at Eurojust today at 12:00. A link to the recording of the press conference is available here .

OUTCOME OF THE CROSS-BORDER INVESTIGATIONS

A complex and very technical investigation into the organised crime group (OCG) was conducted by the Public Prosecutor Office (PPO) of Naples, supported by the Nucleo Speciale Tutela Privacy e Frodi Tecnologiche della Guardia di Finanza di Roma.
Due to the transborder dimension of the criminal activities, a case was opened at Eurojust to advance the Italian investigation. A link was also discovered with another investigation conducted by the PPO of Rome, which was supported by the Polizia di Stato – Servizio Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni – Sezione Financial Cybercrime.
Eurojust ensured quick information exchange with the other Member States involved, as well as the proper and fast execution of judicial orders, including several European Investigation Orders and freezing orders. During the action day, evidence, including servers, digital equipment, payment instruments, record sheets and other infrastructure ( Load Balance ) were seized. A total number of 22 suspects of different nationalities were identified.

ACTIVITIES OF THE CRIMINAL NETWORK

In 2015, the OCG started illegally re-broadcasting and selling pay-per-view products and services, similar to the ones offered by Sky Italia , Mediaset Premium , Netflix , Dazon , and Infinity in various Member States and third countries. The well-skilled criminals used the most sophisticated and efficient software for the fraud. Several retransmission stations were set up with special servers to disable the encryption of the original programmes and generate the illegal IPTV signal in violation of intellectual property law. The gang members offered to a wide audience of unknowing clients actual pay-tv programmes, cinematographic works and on-demand content at a very low price. The illegally obtained assets were subsequently transferred to foreign bank accounts.

The members of the OCG are suspected of having committed large-scale fraud, cybercrime and money laundering.

Photos: © Polizia di Stato (IT)

NATIONAL AUTHORITIES

The following national authorities, among others, were involved in the investigations and the joint action day coordinated by EUROJUST:

Italy

PPO of Naples
PPO of Rome
State Police – Servizio Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni – Sezione Financial Cybercrime
Nucleo Speciale Tutela Privacy e Frodi Tecnologiche della Guardia di Finanza di Roma

Greece

Extradition and mutual legal assistance (MLA) Office of the Appeals PPO of Athens
MLA Office of the Court of First Instance of Athens
First Instance PPO of Athens
Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki
First Instance PPO of Thessaloniki
Hellenic Police – Cybercrime Division
Hellenic Police – Northern Greece Cybercrime Subdivision

Bulgaria

PPO of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria

France

Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Lille
Parquet du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Lille

Germany

General Prosecutor’s Office of Frankfurt am Main – Zentralstelle zur Bekämpfung der Internetkriminalität
PPO of Wuppertal
Hessian State Police

The Netherlands

International Cooperation Unit (IRC) of the PPO of The Hague and the National Police, The Hague

See original post from the Eurojust website here

< Older Post Newer Post >

Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance 2024-2029 EU Manifesto

by AAPA • 1 October 2024

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) publishes its first Manifesto, linked here . The document aims to recognise past efforts of EU legislators when it comes to content protection and the fight against copyright infringement, whilst admitting that more can and should be done to address this growing issue. Miruna Herovanu, Executive Director of AAPA said : " After years of laying the groundwork to combat online piracy it’s time for EU policymakers and beyond to fully acknowledge that decisive, targeted measures are needed at the European level. The rise of digital theft demands action. We call for strong political resolve to end the theft of our members' content. We're ready to support every stakeholder—law enforcement, policymakers, and industry representatives—to dismantle criminal networks and protect European consumers from harm."

AAPA ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

by AAPA • 28 May 2024

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has announced the appointment of Miruna Herovanu as its Executive Director. Miruna was previously the Director at the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand in Europe in charge of Intellectual Property and Competition policies. She took up her position with AAPA on 27 May 2024 and will be based in Brussels. Miruna will replace Sheila Cassells who is retiring as Executive Vice President of AAPA and will report on a day-to-day basis to the two Co-Presidents, Mark Mulready, VP of Cyber Services at Irdeto and Oliver Pribramksy, Head of IP Protection and Committees at the Deutsche Fussball Liga. She will be responsible for the implementation of the strategy agreed by AAPA members, managing relationships with law enforcement agencies such as Europol, Eurojust, INTERPOL and the European Institutions, delivery of AAPA’s Working Group goals and general management of the Alliance. Mark Mulready said that: “We are delighted to appoint someone of Miruna’s calibre and experience to become the Executive Director of AAPA. Miruna’s commitment to copyright protection is well-known. Her knowledge of the Brussels institutions and the EUIPO will stand AAPA in good stead for future policy developments. A priority will be for Miruna to work closely with AAPA members, the EUIPO and the European Institutions to deliver on, inter alia, the goals of combatting online piracy of sports and other live events recommendation.” Miruna Herovanu commented that: “My professional experience demonstrated that piracy is an ever-growing issue that eats at the heart of Europe’s most important industries. This is a golden opportunity and a new professional challenge that will help further develop my passion for and commitment to protecting copyright. Being able to work with and support industry experts and practitioners in AAPA, law enforcement, the European Institutions and other trade associations is essential to the fight against piracy. I am excited to be taking on this role.”