{"id":85948,"date":"2025-11-05T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=85948"},"modified":"2025-11-05T09:00:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T09:00:25","slug":"pirate-iptv-empire-goes-dark-in-brazil-marketing-the-common-denominator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/?p=85948","title":{"rendered":"Pirate IPTV Empire Goes Dark in Brazil, Marketing the Common Denominator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/eppi-600x414.jpg\" alt=\"eppi\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-271635\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/eppi-600x414.jpg 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/eppi-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/eppi-150x103.jpg 150w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/eppi.jpg 1006w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">The action in Argentina two months ago was announced with a reasonable level of detail. Targeting dozens of IPTV services with an estimated eight million global subscribers, Spanish football league LaLiga described the operation as \u201chistoric\u201d and as the dust settled, its importance wasn\u2019t in doubt.<\/p>\n<h2>Targeting a Network with Eight Million Subscribers<\/h2>\n<p>Following an investigation by the Cybercrime Prosecutor\u2019s Office of San Isidro (UFEIC), most likely fueled by investigations carried out by LATAM anti-piracy group Alianza, MPA\/ACE, Nagravision, and others in the region, local police raided four office buildings in Vicente L\u00f3pez, Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n<p>The raids were conducted under the authority of San Isidro Guarantees Court No. 4 and images of DDI agents and tables covered with cash were soon circulating online. Publishing a statement containing a long list of branded and \u2018dismantled\u2019 IPTV services can end badly; however, LaLiga seemed unusually confident that resurrection wouldn\u2019t play a role here.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><em>LaLiga Seemed More Confident Than Usual<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/laliga-down-list.png\" alt=\"laliga-down list\" width=\"1160\" height=\"197\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-273855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/laliga-down-list.png 1160w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/laliga-down-list-300x51.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/laliga-down-list-600x102.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/laliga-down-list-150x25.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>While there were no immediate reports of an existential IPTV crisis in Brazil, complaints about service issues were still quick to arrive and only seemed to increase throughout September.<\/p>\n<h2>Services Start Shutting Down<\/h2>\n<p>On-screen notices announcing a service\u2019s demise aren\u2019t especially common but since early September, IPTV subscribers in Brazil have been exposed to quite a few of them. <\/p>\n<p>An early casualty was \u2018My Family Cinema\u2019 which had been one of the most recognizable IPTV brands in the region. The notice reportedly came via a set-top box update; some reports implied that updates were probably required to get back in the game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><em>End of the road for \u201cthis brand\u201d\u2026<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/myfamilycinema4.png\" alt=\"myfamilycinema4\" width=\"650\" height=\"385\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-273860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/myfamilycinema4.png 858w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema4-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema4-600x355.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema4-150x89.png 150w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema4-220x130.png 220w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>LaLiga\u2019s presumed confidence that services wouldn\u2019t rise from the dead seemed to look a little precarious given the terminology in the shutdown announcement. Indeed, some former customers claimed that My Family Cinema was subsequently \u201ctaken over\u201d by another service called VELA. <\/p>\n<p>Intermittent service and other errors were reported there too, at least for a while.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><em>Easy come, easy go\u2026.<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/vela-dead.png\" alt=\"vela-dead\" width=\"758\" height=\"408\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-273861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/vela-dead.png 758w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vela-dead-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vela-dead-600x323.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vela-dead-150x81.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Reports that My Family Cinema was still partly operational continued through October but perhaps more ominous news had already began to surface. <\/p>\n<p>People keen to renew their subscriptions to various services complained that was no longer possible. Some said that after \u2018upgrading\u2019 to VELA and upgrading again to another substitute service (Konex), payments were successful. Or rather, payments went through as expected but resulted in either no service or a service with ads.<\/p>\n<p>With some users preparing to dust off their torrent clients and others mulling the pros and cons of YouTube, heated discussions over consumer rights \u2013 including the possibility that the services were executing some kind of exit scam \u2013 helped to descend the situation further into chaos. <\/p>\n<p>From a rightsholders\u2019 perspective, mistrust and declining confidence in piracy are valuable commodities. Few things focus the mind more than throwing good money after bad, and if pirates pick up the blame, it doesn\u2019t get much better than that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><em>Consumer rights failure\u2026<\/em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/brazil-iptv-down.png\" alt=\"brazil-iptv down\" width=\"670\" height=\"503\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-273852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/brazil-iptv-down.png 895w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/brazil-iptv-down-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/brazil-iptv-down-600x451.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/brazil-iptv-down-150x113.png 150w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/brazil-iptv-down-200x150.png 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<h2>Two Months After the Raids \u2013 Why Now?<\/h2>\n<p>Official news on how the case is progressing appears to be almost non-existent. <\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uol.com.br\/tilt\/noticias\/redacao\/2025\/11\/03\/operacao-gatonet-argentina-desativa-servicos-pirata-no-brasil.htm\">comment<\/a> from anti-piracy group Alianza confirmed that the legal process is indeed under seal. The practical issues observed on the ground are probably linked to advances made by the Argentine Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office in its ongoing investigations against the platform\u2019s operators, the theory goes. <\/p>\n<p>Other information provided by Alianza clarifies that the eight million subscriber estimate concerns the network\u2019s peak worldwide. Working on the basis of 6.2 million subscribers more recently, Alianza claims that 4.6 million subscribers can be found in Brazil, together generating between US$150 million and US$200 million.<\/p>\n<p>As for the network\u2019s operational structure, Alianza president Jorge Bacaloni says that management, IT\/technical, and financial matters are handled in China. <\/p>\n<p>The investigation in Argentina reportedly concerns a \u2018command center\u2019 that controls\/coordinates pirate services across the region. An office in Buenos Aires was reportedly responsible for marketing the services and for what could be over US$100m in global piracy sales. <\/p>\n<h2>Common Denominator For Popular Brands<\/h2>\n<p>Since there are signs that new services are easily launched and if necessary, devices with subscriptions to defunct services can be remotely updated to access another service, common ownership\/control seems a reasonable explanation, in broad terms at least.<\/p>\n<p>Proving that\u2019s actually the case to a criminal standard is quite rightly a matter for the prosecutor\u2019s office. However, if there\u2019s a central marketing\/sales operation common to some or even all of the named services, that should be much easier to discover. <\/p>\n<p>Since Alianza provided no real clues, we cannot say whether the marketing company apparently used by some of the IPTV services is just a marketing company, or whether it\u2019s THE marketing company referenced by Alianza. <\/p>\n<p>What we can confirm is that in this instance, zero effort was expended to hide the connections, despite that being technically trivial. What that says in the bigger picture, if indeed it says anything at all, is for the prosecutor\u2019s office to determine. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><center><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/myfamilycinema-net.png\" alt=\"myfamilycinema-net\" width=\"670\" height=\"453\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-273851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/myfamilycinema-net.png 882w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema-net-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema-net-600x405.png 600w, https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/myfamilycinema-net-150x101.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Other signs that the overall business was approached from otherwise legitimate angles, include the trademark applications for \u2018My Family Cinema\u2019 filed in Paraguay. <\/p>\n<p>Given that there are copyright complaints filed against several branded services and other entities with links to them, why it took around six years to take action is unclear. Perhaps timing and opportunity are still the most important factors.<\/p>\n<p>From: <a href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/\">TF<\/a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\"><small>Powered by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpematico.com\" target=\"_blank\">WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The action in Argentina two months ago was announced with a reasonable level of detail. Targeting dozens of IPTV services with an estimated eight million global subscribers, Spanish football league LaLiga described the operation as \u201chistoric\u201d and as the dust settled, its importance wasn\u2019t in doubt. Targeting a Network with Eight Million Subscribers Following an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[308],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85948","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\/85948","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=85948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cryptocabaret.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}