Up until a few years ago, rightsholders complained that cable operators in the Dominican Republic broadcast their content without permission.
After HBO repeatedly pointed this out to the U.S. Government, the Dominican authorities eventually stepped in and put an end to the unauthorized activity.
However, as in many countries around the world, Dominicans had plenty of other options to access pirate streams. With the boom of illicit IPTV services more recently, this became easier than ever, at a fraction of the price of legal alternatives.
Authorities Arrest IPTV Operators, Helped by ACE
This week, authorities in the Dominican Republic cracked down on what they believe to be one of the larger pirate IPTV operations. In a major international anti-piracy operation, dubbed “Operation Domo,” authorities targeted six suspects and arrested four.
The operation was triggered by a criminal referral from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which mentions “IPTV66” as the target. A team of 30 prosecutors and various police units conducted over a dozen raids in the country, seizing electronic equipment, documents, and vehicles.
The raid locations include a ten-story office building in Santo Domingo, exclusively used by the operators, as well as a large ranch outside the city. This real estate was allegedly acquired using illegal proceeds.
The amounts are significant; ACE reports that in four years the operation was able to generate $10 million in cryptocurrency revenue.
In addition to ACE and local enforcement authorities, the anti-piracy sting received support from the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations.
Previously Convicted
A key detail, not mentioned by ACE, was shared by the Dominican Office of the Attorney General. The government body reveals that four of the arrested suspects were “previously convicted” in the United States for similar piracy offenses.
The authorities mention that the case concluded in 2017, without sharing further detail. We were unable to pinpoint the exact case. While convictions typically refer to criminal prosecutions, it could’ve been a civil lawsuit.
There are no public references to a case involving IPTV66 in the United States. It is possible, however, that the suspects were running an operation under a different name at the time. Interestingly, IPTV66 was mentioned in a Canadian lawsuit (pdf) filed by rightsholders against IPTV providers in 2016. However, most documents in this case are not public.
IPTV66 Shutdown?
The Attorney General’s office mentions that the IPTV operation was dismantled. However, ACE does not use any language suggesting that the operation was shut down. Neither does it mention which “IPTV66” operation was targeted.
At the time of writing, the well-known IPTV66.com domain name remains online. Based on an OSINT analysis, this domain is linked to a person from the Dominican Republic, who also owns various other IPTV66 domains.
If this is indeed the IPTV66 operation that was targeted, the four arrests have not resulted in a full takedown of the platform.
For now, the investigation remains ongoing, and the Public Ministry has formally requested four arrested individuals to be placed in preventive detention while the case proceeds. They are accused of copyright infringement (Law 65-00), high-tech crimes (Law 53-07), and money laundering (Law 155-17).
As is often the case with these types of ongoing investigations, only minimal details have been released.
Local news outlet CDN was present at the court on Wednesday evening when the prosecution filed the necessary paperwork for a restraining order. While the report confirmed many of the public details from the steps of the courthouse, no new details on the operation emerged.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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