Blog Post

Police arrest another six suspects to stop illegal distribution of Pay-TV content

AAPA

7th July 2011

Six more servers seized distributing illegally BFBS, BSkyB and Nova from Cyprus - total of 11 servers dismantled in past 3 weeks
German court interrogates 70 witnesses to prove commercial character of pirate activity during 2-year trial
UK court sends card sharer to prison

AEPOC, the European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services, confirms another police investigation in Cyprus seizing six more card sharing servers and stopping six new suspects offering illegal subscriptions for BFBS, BSkyB and Nova. Earlier in June a first police operation, supported and initiated by AEPOC members including Irdeto, saw a Cypriot man arrested for providing illicit Pay-TV subscriptions to some 1.400 clients in Europe. The police believe the six new suspects are connected to the first case. In both incidents card sharing networks distributed codes to illegally access Pay-TV content.

Close collaboration of AEPOC members with the Cypriot police continues to be successful - and action has been swift. The intense, but comparatively short, operation took six months, including preparation and undercover investigation. In the past three weeks a total of 11 card sharing servers have been dismantled in Cyprus. The accused in the first case has already admitted the charges.

A recent court case in Germany required more time and resilience. After a two year trial a man was sentenced to two years imprisonment for having offered illicit pirate software to access Pay-TV services, including those of Premiere, the predecessor company of Sky Deutschland. The operator had filed the initial complaint for this criminal law case and also served as an expert witness during the court hearing. With the accused denying the charges until the very end, the court of Bautzen conducted 16 hearings over the past two years and interrogated some 70 witnesses to prove the commercial character of the pirate activity. According to German law on "computer fraud" it is necessary to demonstrate the objective of commercial gain or to prove a criminal act to impose a severe punishment. Initially some 972 individual incidents of piracy were brought to court, which the prosecutors reduced to 100 to limit the scope of the already long-haul trial. The final judgjudg ment was based on 42 incidents of computer fraud committed by the man.

A smaller card sharing incident in the UK was successfully stopped, following evidence passed to the West Yorkshire Police by BSkyB and FACT. On May 31 2011, the owner of a satellite supplies shop in Leeds was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment and a fine of £2,000 by the Leeds Crown Court for having offered illicit services to some 36 clients to access several broadcast channels. While the network was of smaller dimension the judgment, rightly, underlines the criminal nature of Pay-TV piracy.

Sheila Cassells, AEPOC's Executive Director, commented: "AEPOC is pleased to see such swift action by the Cypriot police to stop these large scale card sharing network. This is only the beginning, with AEPOC members currently preparing several more investigations. AEPOC and its members are determined to do all that is required to reduce piracy."

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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.”