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      Police Tracked Traffic of All National ISPs to Catch Pirate IPTV Users

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Monday, 21 November, 2022 - 10:09 · 3 minutes

    bees Over the past two decades, pirate sites and services frequented by millions of users have been shut down following legal action. No longer useful for spreading files, many were repurposed to spread fear.

    In the wake of Hollywood’s 2005 win at the U.S. Supreme Court, the website of file-sharing service Grokster was transformed into a personalized warning. Anyone visiting the site saw their own IP address alongside a message claiming it had been logged. “Don’t think you can’t get caught. You are not anonymous,” the message added.

    Variations on this theme have since appeared on dozens of platforms, most famously via an MPA campaign that declared “You can click but you can’t hide.” These messages were designed to instill fear and uncertainty but didn’t lead to any notable action against those who viewed them. Until now, at least.

    Italy’s War on IPTV Pirates Hits The Streets

    Most top-tier copyright holders avoid targeting consumer-level pirates, mainly because the optics aren’t great. No matter how carefully targets are chosen, suing someone’s grandma is terrible PR and even when things go smoothly, results are limited.

    Today’s general consensus is that hitting site operators is much more effective but whenever the opportunity appears, undermining user confidence should be part of the strategy. Italian police have been following the same model by shutting down pirate IPTV services ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) and warning users they’re up next.

    No Bluff: Police Tracked IPTV Subscribers

    Letters recently sent to homes in Italy reveal that police were not bluffing. A copy letter obtained by Iilsole24ore identifies the send as the Nucleo Speciale Tutela Privacy e Frodi Tecnologiche , a Guardia di Finanza unit specializing in IT-related crime. It refers to an anti-IPTV police operation in May.

    The operation targeted around 500 pirate IPTV resources including websites and Telegram channels. At the time, police also reported that 310+ pieces of IPTV infrastructure, including primary and balancing servers distributing illegal streams, were taken offline.

    Police also claimed that a tracking system made it possible to identify the users of the pirate streams. The letter suggests extraordinary and potentially unprecedented tactics.

    “Italy’s ISPs Redirected National Traffic”

    The letters state that Italian authorities were able to track the IPTV users by “arranging for the redirection of all Internet service providers’ national connections” so that subscribers placed their orders on a police-controlled server configured to record their activity.

    In comments to Iilsole24ore, Gian Luca Berruti, head of investigations at the Guardia di Finanza, describes the operation as “decisive” in the fight against cybercrime. Currently deployed to Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency, Berruti references “innovative investigative techniques” supported by “new technological tools.”

    Technical details are not being made public, but it’s claimed that IPTV users were tracked by “tracing of all connections to pirate sites (IPs) combined, in real-time,” and “cross-referencing telematic information with that derived from the payment mechanisms used.”

    The police operation in May was codenamed Operazione:Dottor Pezzotto . A Telegram channel with exactly the same branding suffered a traffic collapse at exactly the same time.

    IPTV Subscribers Must Pay a Fine

    Finding out exactly what techniques the police used in May will take time but at face value seem more suited to terrorists than people looking for cheap streams. The fine amounts are baffling too, especially given the extraordinary effort to track IPTV users down.

    The letters refer to an administrative copyright infringement fine of just 154 euros or “in case of recidivism” a total of 1,032 euros. However, if people pay their fines within 60 days, the amounts are reduced to 51 euros and 344 euros respectively.

    “It is important to raise awareness of all citizens, especially young people, on this issue and make them understand that financing this business means financing organized crime. We must protect the healthy economy and companies that respect the rules,” Berruti says.

    Around 1,600 people are believed to have been targeted in this first wave of letters but according to Andrea Duillo, CEO of Sky Italia, this is just the start.

    “These first fines show that it is doubly dangerous to use pirated services, because not only do you hand over your personal data to criminal organizations, but you also commit an offense for which you are fined and prosecuted,” Duillo concludes.

    A redacted copy of the letter can be found here ( pdf )

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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      Telegram Piracy: Police Target 545 Channels & Eight Suspected Admins

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Monday, 10 October, 2022 - 08:41 · 5 minutes

    Telegram The mainstream file-sharing scene is well-known for its public-facing websites and forums but underneath all of that, chat channels have always played a big role.

    Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was a popular option when BitTorrent sites ruled the waves. Many sites had channels serving as community hubs on one hand, and portals to the latest files on the other. IRC’s relatively steep learning curve helped to stunt its own growth but for modern-day equivalents such as Telegram, there are no such problems.

    After IRC first appeared in 1988, it took more than 20 years for the most popular networks to peak between 100K to 200K users. After just nine years online, Telegram now has 700 million active users each month. Channels are used for every type of discussion imaginable, with piracy facilitation and distribution some of the fastest-growing trends. As a result, copyright holders have yet another battle on their hands.

    Italy’s War on Telegram Piracy

    Since at least 2019 , Italian authorities have targeted Telegram channels linked to illicit IPTV services and movie and TV show piracy , but protection of literary works is becoming increasingly common.

    In 2020, complaints from the Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FIEG) over the illegal distribution of newspapers, periodicals, and books, led to an emergency order requiring Telegram to shut down 19 channels or face blocking itself. A year later, FIEG said it had taken down more than 300 Telegram channels offering similar content.

    A major anti-piracy operation carried out last week shows that even more work needs to be done.

    Journalist Organization Demands Action Against Pirates

    In order to work legally in Italy, journalists must obtain registration from Ordine dei Giornalisti (Order of Journalists, ODG), a state-approved body that has been responsible for regulating the profession since 1963.

    While registration and regulation of journalists is controversial, ODG is seen as a champion of its members’ rights. In addition to protecting writers in their negotiations with publishers, ODG works to ensure its members are paid fairly. The organization also seeks fair competition in the marketplace where piracy is seen as a disruption.

    A memorandum of understanding signed two years ago by ODG and government law enforcement agency Guardia di Finanza was designed to send another message on behalf of its members; journalism plays a key role in democracy and pirates shouldn’t be allowed to undermine either.

    In early 2020, ODG filed a complaint at the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Milan. The regulator said that Telegram and WhatsApp groups were mass distributing PDF copies of newspapers and periodicals on a daily basis. Since this piracy harms ODG members, shutting down pirate channels would be a proportionate response. The authorities listened and dozens of channels were blocked.

    Latest Response From Specialist IT Unit

    Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle is the sports division of the Italian police force, competing in athletics, rowing, skiing and disciplines including judo and karate. Fiamme Gialle IT specialists werecredited for identifying 6,500 pirate IPTV users and according to the Guardia di Finanza of Rome, they’ve recently been tracking down those pirating ODG members’ works too.

    “The investigations carried out by the specialists of the Fiamme Gialle led to the identification of a much wider illegal network than the one envisaged in the complaint,” a statement from GdF reads.

    “This allowed the unmasking of a consolidated system of unauthorized sharing and dissemination, not only of newspapers and magazines published by the main Italian editorial groups, but also television schedules, TV series and other paid entertainment content, distributed via the internet by the major streaming platforms.”

    Police Obtain Authority to Search and Shutdown

    Under the coordination of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Milan, the Technological Fraud Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Rome obtained authority to shutdown the pirates’ Telegram channels and carry out searches against suspects.

    The seizure order relates to 545 Telegram ‘resources’ suspected of distributing copyrighted content and individuals said to be involved in their operation. In five areas of Italy – Lombardia, Piemonte, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Campania – searches were conducted against eight people. GdF describes them as the suspected administrators of channels linked to criminal copyright infringement offenses.

    Telegram Piracy Channels Were Very Popular

    GdF say that the targeted Telegram channels had over 430,000 subscribers who paid nothing to join channels but were monetized by the administrators in other ways.

    The first method involved the administrators pasting links into their channels that referred users to e-commerce sites. When these links were followed and products were purchased, a percentage was kicked back to the administrators.

    The second method is described as “sponsorship” where advertising banners were placed on the allegedly-infringing channels in return for payment from the advertiser. Information related to these sponsorship deals is still online and shows the interconnected nature of the channels targeted by the police.

    Which Channels Were Blocked?

    The channels haven’t been officially named by the authorities but information obtained by TorrentFreak allowed us to identify a key channel in the investigation, confirm it had been banned by Telegram, and then find other connected channels that received the same treatment. (Data credit: Telemetr.io )

    The Riviste Gratuite (Free Magazines) channel launched in September 2020 and a year later had 30,575 subscribers. The channel reached a peak of 41,046 around October 9, before being blocked by Telegram for copyright infringement.

    Other channels in the same niche also banned last week include eBook Free House (55,000), Epub Gold (28,500), and Giornali Gratuti (21,800).

    As pointed out by GdF, the system their specialists uncovered offered more than just pirated newspapers and magazines. In the end, offering content other than that reported by ODG failed to keep them online.

    Whether they offered movies and TV shows or other content in Italian, House Streaming (29,000 subscribers), Il Cinema Notturno (34,000), and APK Plex (100,500), were all blocked along with many others.

    Who Sponsored The Channels?

    The banned channels listed above (plus others not documented here) all targeted Italy, with Italian-focused content. Their tendency to keep mentioning each other in their respective channels made them very easy to spot.

    The huge amount of data available from Telegram (not to mention basic Google searches) shows they had connections with ‘ Sponsor Cultura ‘, which appears to be acting as some kind of agent for potential advertisers.

    One offer lists the channels @RivisteGratuite, @GiornaliGratuiti, @RivisteInternazionali and @AppPlexFree (three of which are now blocked). It states that they reached 115,000 members/20,000 visuals per day, and offered a 15:00 to 20:00 (5 hours) time slot for 40 euros. Other offers are openly visible on Telegram.

    This sponsor isn’t banned, and neither are the many other Italy-focused magazine channels that still exist on Telegram. Another round of takedowns should be expected in the not-too-distant future.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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      6,500 IPTV Pirates Identified After Accessing Police-Controlled Service

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Sunday, 29 May, 2022 - 18:09 · 4 minutes

    bees For the past several years, authorities in Italy have regularly announced operations that aimed to disrupt the supply and use of pirate IPTV services.

    After a series of similar actions, in 2021 it was claimed that ‘ Operation Black Out ‘ had shut down a network responsible for around 80% of the illegal supply in the country. This January, another operation led to the claimed dismantling of a network servicing 500,000 customers.

    These reported successes may have disrupted supply but rightsholders are still unhappy. Last week, CEO of football league Serie A blamed IPTV pirates for a 300 million euro black hole in revenues, something that may have played a role in Italian authorities conducting a new crackdown with an unusual component.

    New Guardia di Finanza Operation

    The special technology fraud unit of the Guardia di Finanza (GdF), a law enforcement agency under the authority of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is reported to have carried out a new operation as football fans prepared for the end of the Serie A football championship.

    In addition to either blocking or seizing sites and servers relating to the sale and distribution of pirate IPTV services, police also took the opportunity to give thousands of pirates an unwelcome surprise.

    “In anticipation of the last day of the Serie A football championship and the Conference League final, the IT specialists of the Fiamme Gialle have registered hundreds of new services and resources dedicated to the sale of IPTV activities through illegal streaming,” a GdF statement reads.

    The Gruppi Sportivi Fiamme Gialle is the sports division of the Italian police force, with team members competing in athletics, rowing, skiing and other sports including judo and karate. In this instance, however, they were lying in wait as IPTV pirates scooped up an enticing offer.

    ‘Applicazione Ufficiale’

    The ‘Official Application’ subscription package offered every regular TV channel and subscription TV service at the “ridiculously low price” of six euros and promised access on devices including TVs, phones, tablets, and computers. Police say it was advertised on Telegram channels, some with as many as 20,000 users, with a free trial and guaranteed anonymity to put subscribers at ease.

    Meanwhile, GdF officers were engaged in parallel IPTV disruption activities. They say more than 500 web resources relating to pirate IPTV were seized or blocked, including over 150 websites and 40 Telegram channels. In addition, 310+ pieces of IPTV infrastructure, including primary and balancing servers distributing illegal streams, were taken offline.

    Italian police don’t go into specifics so the precise mechanism of what came next is unclear. However, the suggestion is that through seized IPTV infrastructure, police were able to track people who tried to access illegal streams via ‘Applicazione Ufficiale’ subscriptions.

    “In fact, a real tracking system was implemented which made it possible to identify the users of the pirate streams. Anyone who tried to connect to the pirated service was immediately redirected to a special information panel that warned that the site, through which the program was being viewed, was seized and the connection data traced,” GdF says.

    Police ‘Discover’ Stream Creed

    Back in 2019, police in Italy announced a huge anti-piracy operation that targeted, among other things, the company operating popular IPTV service management system Xtream Codes . The software/system offered a comprehensive package that allowed people to manage their own IPTV reselling service and its customers but according to police, Xtream Codes acted illegally.

    Almost three years later, there is no news of subsequent charges, if any, but there have been accusations that the team behind Xtream Codes remained in the business with a similar product called Xtream UI. That claim was subsequently denied by the Xtream Codes team and it appears police now have a new and related discovery on their hands.

    “The consequent analyzes carried out by the investigators have, at present, made it possible to ascertain the existence of a new management system for IT flows, called ‘Stream Creed’, which appears to derive from the source code of the already known ‘Xtream Codes’, a worldwide pirate platform dismantled by the same Special Unit in 2019,” GdF says.

    The suggestion that police IT specialists only just discovered the existence of this software seems unlikely. The Stream Creed platform has been discussed in IPTV communities for at least two years accompanied by videos on sites including YouTube.

    But whether the Stream Creed discovery is new or old, DAZN – which secured rights to broadcast Serie A matches in a $3 billion deal in 2021 – is happy with the outcome of the operation.

    “We renew our full support to the law enforcement agencies who are committed every day to countering the phenomenon of piracy which every year generates enormous damage to our country system, with a particular impact on the media and entertainment industry and on end customers,” says DAZN CEO Stefano Azzi.

    “Piracy affects the whole world of OTT players, not just DAZN. With the diversification of platforms and channels, the methods of piracy also change. DAZN’s anti-piracy division and its partners are already working to stop thousands of instances through law enforcement, injunctions and continuous innovation to protect subscribers.”

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.