PRESS RELEASE

International Coalition Brings Down Piracy Ring Boasting 40,000 Video Channels and VOD content, and 2 Million Subscribers

Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), the Spanish Football League (LaLiga), NAGRA and Nordic Content Protection thank the Spanish National Police, and law enforcement agencies throughout Europe, for crackdown on international illegal IPTV streaming network.

Frankfurt, Germany, Madrid, Spain, Cheseaux, Switzerland, and Phoenix, AZ, Herlev, Denmark – June 16, 2020 – The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL), the Spanish Football League (LaLiga), NAGRA and Nordic Content Protection today announced the shutdown of an illegal IPTV streaming network based in Spain that served more than two million paying subscribers worldwide. The shutdown is the result of criminal complaints and assistance of DFL, LaLiga, NAGRA and Nordic Content Protection to the Spanish police. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) was also involved on behalf of the content industry. The coordinated international law enforcement operation was led by the Spanish National Police with the support of Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, and Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.

What is Nordic Content Protection

Nordic Content Protection is the leading anti-piracy organization working for the Television Industry in the Nordic countries.

Nordic Content Protection has supported its members for over 20 years with a range of specialized solutions covering technical advisory, enforcement actions, criminal case investigations, law enforcement collaboration, claims settlements and court hearing testimonials.

Our staff consists mainly of experienced high-tech investigators with backgrounds in Nordic Police forces combined with technicians. This and the status as a not-for-profit member association makes Nordic Content Protection an independent high-quality partner and results in a long range of active collaborations with relevant stakeholders such as law enforcement, research- and EU institutions and other partner organizations.

Danish Legislation

The Danish Radio- and Television Law §91 state that it is illegal to manufacture, import, sell, own or change decoding equipment with the purpose of giving unauthorized access to the content of an encoded radio- or TV-programme. Also, promotion and advertisement of such equipment are prohibited. Distribution of codes and pirate cards, i.e. via the internet is a violation of the law. Offences are punishable with fines and imprisonment for up to 1 year and 6 months. Aggravated offences are punishable according to Danish Penal Code § 299 b with imprisonment for up to 6 years.

Norwegian Legislation

The Norwegian law (§203) state that it is illegal to manufacture, import, sell, use or change decoding equipment with the purpose to give access to the content of an encoded radio- or TV-programme. Also promotion and advertisement of such equipment are prohibited. Distribution of codes, card sharing and pirate cards, i.e. via the internet is a violation of the law. Violators of the law face severe fines and imprisonment for up to 3 year. Persons who use decoding equipment for private and non-commercial purposes risk imprisonment for up to 6 months.

Swedish Legislation

To produce, import, offer/sell, install, support etc. piracy equipment with the purpose to give unauthorized access to the content of an encoded radio- or TV-program, is a breach of law “Act (SFS: 2000:171) on prohibition against illegal equipment” in Sweden. Also promotion and advertisement of such equipment are not permitted. Distribution of codes and piracy cards, i.e. via the internet is also a violation of the law. Violators of the law face severe fines and imprisonment for up to 2 years. Violators of the law also face heavy damages.