![\"cristal_azul\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/cristal_azul.png\")
Whenever fans read about football in mainstream European media, carefully crafted deterrent messaging woven into anti-piracy news is unlikely to be too far away. <\/p>\nWhenever fans read about football in mainstream European media, carefully crafted deterrent messaging woven into anti-piracy news is unlikely to be too far away. <\/p>\n
Suing everyone is impossible, but as rightsholders in Spain warn that fines are on the way<\/a>, in the context of a reverse lawsuit lottery that nobody wants to win, \u2018y si toca aqu\u00ed?\u2019<\/p>\n A press release issued by Spain\u2019s Ministry of the Interior on Friday is fairly dry by most standards, but by withholding most of the important details (Who, What, When, Where, Why), those reporting on the story are left to fill in the blanks. As a result, arguably more significant developments may have been overlooked.<\/p>\n The statement reveals that members of the Technological Investigation Team (EDITE) of the Madrid Command (Guardia Civil), were able to deactivate\/disable \u201cthe most important streaming channel in Spain\u201d as part of Operaci\u00f3n Corsario Azul<\/em> (Operation Blue Corsair).<\/p>\n Investigators reportedly discovered that a Kodi add-on \u201ccreated by a developer external to the platform\u201d provided free access to live streams of matches played in the first (and second) Spanish divisions. No straightforward mention of LaLiga, but still.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, the researchers focused their activity on finding out where the football matches were being broadcast, following the steps of the source code of the extension or \u2018add-on\u2019. After various searches for information, they managed to obtain said location, one of the most used instant messaging platforms in Spain,\u201d the statement adds.<\/p>\n The Ministry says that to determine who is responsible for the unnamed add-on, which streams matches illegally from an unnamed messaging platform, apparently to 78,000 users for free, investigators focused on pseudonyms present in the source code of the add-on.<\/p>\n These investigations led to the identification of an unnamed \u201cuser of the platform\u201d as the person responsible, who appears to be in considerable trouble. The 37-year-old was investigated for \u201ca crime related to the market and consumers\u201d with related fraud valued at exactly \u20ac42,547,104. <\/p>\n The operation also achieved the \u201cblocking and elimination\u201d of the channels used on the instant messaging app\u201d as well as the \u201celimination of the programming code used illegally.\u201d One of these claims seems like a bit of a stretch. The other may be more important that it sounds.<\/p>\n The Civil Guard separately confirmed that \u201ctwo well-known companies in Spain\u201d were the victims in the alleged \u20ac42,547,104 fraud. Why the names of those companies seem hard to mention is unclear, but they\u2019ll come as no surprise.<\/p>\n The investigation was triggered by a joint complaint filed by top-tier football league LaLiga, and Telefonica-owned broadcasting partner Movistar. <\/p>\n The target was a Kodi add-on called Cristal Azul<\/em>, as these screenshots from a police video seem to confirm. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n The GitHub repo seen in the video still exists, but it contains only a very old version of Cristal Azul (v0.0.12) from four years ago; the latest versions are v3.0.10+.<\/p>\n While not four years old, the news announced on Friday wasn\u2019t exactly fresh either. In fact, those behind the add-on made an announcement on October 7, 2024, which left very little doubt that their position had become untenable, \u201cugly\u201d even.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n News that the addon would be immediately shut down and wouldn\u2019t be coming back, was only the beginning.<\/p>\n Before those behind Cristal Azul shut the add-on down early October, the software was available from the Luar repository hosted on GitHub. Presumably due to the unwanted attention, soon after Cristal Azul shut down, the Luar repository disappeared in similar fashion, leaving the message \u201cSee you soon\u201d behind. <\/p>\n Most likely due to the disappearance of Cristal Azul, the Luar repository received a significant (but useless) traffic boost in October.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A slightly longer message on Telegram added: \u201cIt\u2019s time to say goodbye. WE CLOSE DOORS. We hope that in these 4 years Luar helped you in some way. Thank you for being there. See you soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the demise of Luar, other add-on related platforms have taken action too. Whether these are true closures, relocations, rebrandings or any other strategy deployed by pirates, is unknown, but TVChopo and Kodivertido began limiting their exposure in the third week of October. <\/p>\n Not long after, Palantir also took steps to improve its security; in fact, all players mentioned above took exactly the same action. <\/p>\n The popular instant messaging app that the Ministry alluded to in its statement concerning Cristal Azul was Telegram; it appears some people are becoming quite nervous about having a piracy presence there.<\/p>\n After Telegram\u2019s founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France in August, Telegram promised to address abuse on the platform, including being more responsive to piracy complaints. Telegram says it intends to stand by that promise.<\/a> <\/p>\n When Spanish tech site AVPasion <\/a>asked Telegram about its change of policy and how that could affect channel operators accused of infringement, Telegram was fairly bullish on the consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve updated our terms of service and privacy policy, ensuring they are consistent across the globe. We\u2019ve made it clear that IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules may be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests,\u201d Telegram\u2019s response reads.<\/p>\n For some who believed that Telegram was a safe haven, this may be an unexpected wake-up call. It really shouldn\u2019t have been unexpected though and what comes next month or next year shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise either. <\/p>\n From: TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\nOperation Blue Corsair<\/h2>\n
Tracking the Culprit<\/h2>\n
Some Meat on the Bones<\/h2>\n
![\"cristal_azul-4\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/cristal_azul-4.png\")
<\/center><\/p>\n![\"cristal-azul-oct-7\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/cristal-azul-oct-7.png\")
<\/center><\/p>\nToo Hot to Continue<\/h2>\n
![\"luar\"](\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/luar.png\")
<\/center><\/p>\nTelegram Fears: More Addons Call it Quits<\/h2>\n
IP Addresses and Phone Numbers<\/h2>\n