{"id":68843,"date":"2022-11-22T09:02:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T09:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=68843"},"modified":"2022-11-22T09:02:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T09:02:28","slug":"police-tracked-traffic-of-all-national-isps-to-catch-pirate-iptv-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=68843","title":{"rendered":"Police Tracked Traffic of All National ISPs to Catch Pirate IPTV Users"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bees\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Hollywood\u2019s 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. \u201cDon\u2019t think you can\u2019t get caught. You are not anonymous,\u201d the message added.<\/p>\n

Variations on this theme have since appeared on dozens of platforms, most famously via an MPA campaign that declared \u201cYou can click but you can\u2019t hide.\u201d These messages were designed to instill fear and uncertainty but didn\u2019t lead to any notable action against those who viewed them. Until now, at least.<\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s War on IPTV Pirates Hits The Streets<\/h2>\n

Most top-tier copyright holders avoid targeting consumer-level pirates, mainly because the optics aren\u2019t great. No matter how carefully targets are chosen, suing someone\u2019s grandma is terrible PR and even when things go smoothly, results are limited.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s 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<\/a>,2<\/a>,3<\/a>) and warning users they\u2019re up next. <\/p>\n

No Bluff: Police Tracked IPTV Subscribers<\/h2>\n

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

\"gdf-fine-letter-iptv-oct<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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

\u201cItaly\u2019s ISPs Redirected National Traffic\u201d<\/h2>\n

The letters state that Italian authorities were able to track the IPTV users by \u201carranging for the redirection of all Internet service providers\u2019 national connections\u201d so that subscribers placed their orders on a police-controlled server configured to record their activity.<\/p>\n

In comments to Iilsole24ore, Gian Luca Berruti, head of investigations at the Guardia di Finanza, describes the operation as \u201cdecisive\u201d in the fight against cybercrime. Currently deployed to Italy\u2019s National Cybersecurity Agency, Berruti references \u201cinnovative investigative techniques\u201d supported by \u201cnew technological tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technical details are not being made public, but it\u2019s claimed that IPTV users were tracked by \u201ctracing of all connections to pirate sites (IPs) combined, in real-time,\u201d and \u201ccross-referencing telematic information with that derived from the payment mechanisms used.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police operation in May was codenamed Operazione:Dottor Pezzotto<\/em>. A Telegram channel with exactly the same branding suffered a traffic collapse<\/a> at exactly the same time.<\/p>\n

IPTV Subscribers Must Pay a Fine<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The letters refer to an administrative copyright infringement fine of just 154 euros or \u201cin case of recidivism\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d Berruti says.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 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,\u201d Duillo concludes.<\/p>\n

A redacted copy of the letter can be found here (pdf<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n

Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 2005 win at the U.S. Supreme Court, the website of file-sharing service Grokster was transformed into a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-torrent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}