Police from across Europe have taken down one of the world’s largest illegal streaming networks.
The piracy operation is alleged to have served audiovisual content to over 22 million users worldwide and generated over €250m in illegal revenue per month.
The operation, conducted this week, was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust and supported by the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA). It involved over 270 officers from the Polizia Postale carrying out 89 property searches in 15 Italian regions.
Another 14 searches were conducted by law enforcement agencies abroad, including five addresses in England, and further searches and seizures took place in the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, France, Bulgaria, Germany and Croatia. 11 people were arrested by the Cybercrime Division of the Croatian Police.
Cryptocurrencies in excess of €1,650,000 and cash in excess of €40,000 were also seized.
Mark Mulready, Co-president of the AAPA, said: “We applaud the efforts of the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Croatian State Attorney Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, Europol, Eurojust, and all of the law enforcement agencies involved in these operations. The scale of these multi-jurisdictional law enforcement actions highlights the considerable challenge our industry faces when dealing with such sophisticated international pirate networks. We are proud to have collaborated with our law enforcement partners to provide technical training and in-field support to assist them in successfully tackling the world’s largest pirate network.
“We are very grateful to the AAPA members who supported this action day, including Premier League, Sky Group, Nagravision, Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), beIN Sports, United Media, Friend MTS and Irdeto.”
Stephen Nuttall unveiled as new Chair of IBC’s Partnership Board
Stephen Nuttall has been appointed as the new Chair of IBC’s Partnership Board. Made up of representatives from each of the six partner organisations which own IBC (IABM, IEEE, IET, RTS, SCTE and SMPTE), the IBC Partnership Board provides the governance and strategic oversight of IBC.
Saleha Williams appointed CEO of IABM
Saleha Williams has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IABM.
Comcast sets leadership team for ‘SpinCo’ cable unit
US media and telco giant Comcast has unveiled the leadership team for SpinCo as it prepares to spin off its cable television portfolio later in the year.
Labour exploring ‘alternative funding options’ to BBC licence fee
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is reportedly considering scrapping the BBC licence fee at the end of the Corporation's current charter in December 2027.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie to head Creative Cities Convention speakers
BBC Director-General Tim Davie has been lined up as one of the key speakers at this year’s Creative Cities Convention, being held from May 7–8 in Bradford as part of its UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations.
