Piracy is one of the great concerns of the authorities, the media and the holders of broadcasting rights for various sports competitions. At present they are trying to stop this type of threat with more determination than ever and the Spanish police have managed to dismantle an IPTV network in Madrid in which 6 people have been arrested.
This same Monday an international criminal organization that sold decoders in which you could enjoy audiovisual content illegally fell in Madrid. The result: 6 detainees, 24,430 decoders intervened and 12,000 customers disconnected.
record seizure
In 2020, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) coalition and other rights holders such as the Spanish La Liga decided to launch an action against the Seiko IPTV pirate platform which operated in Europe. Its first appearance was in May 2016. At that time, the platform offered around 3,200 channels, as well as a video-on-demand service with a large number of TV shows and movies.
At the time of Seiko IPTV’s downfall, the illegal IPTV service offered 9,000 channels and more than 20,000 contents in its VOD catalog in the form of series or movies. A closure that has taken place after the complaint sent in 2020 to the United States Trade Representative by the Spanish professional soccer league.
🚩Fall in #Madrid an international criminal organization that sold decoders to enjoy content #audiovisuals illegally
🔹6 detainees
🔹24,430 seized decoders
🔹 12,000 customers offline pic.twitter.com/lg8c6yPEwF— National Police (@police) February 14, 2022
Decoders made in China
Those responsible for the platform provided this illegal service by importing decoders made in China that they stored in Madrid. The pirates were then in charge of selling them in Spain and also abroad.
To be more exact, the decoders had been modified to illegally receiving pay television signals through servers located in countries such as France, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom. With this seizure, the Spanish police have estimated that the loot from the pirate platform is around €1.2 million. A profit generated between 2017 and 2021. According to the authorities, the group sold the decos on various web platforms and through its own forum. In addition, Seiko IPTV offered technical support to its customers.
A solution that can be expensive
Pirate decos and illegal subscriptions to IPTV services are very popular among users who are looking for a cheap solution to watch paid content. The truth is that this practice can face many problems. Beyond the poor quality of the service, we can also lose money, suffer bank data theft and even have our data reach the hands of the authorities in raids in which this type of illegal services falls.
In cases such as the closure of Seiko IPTV, it is possible that the authorities access the IP address from which the service is accessed and also any personal data that we have given to contract that IPTV. If they pull the thread, they could reach you through data such as email or bank details.