After gaining great momentum in the last seven years, the pirated IPTV phenomenon is now a great challenge for the entire audiovisual entertainment market.
While sometimes hit or miss, pirate subscriptions are now seen as a credible market alternative. Compared to the packages offered by legal providers, they are more complete and less restrictive. And when cost enters the equation, there can only be one winner.
While one side pays millions to produce or license movies and TV shows, the other only has to worry about when they will be available to copy so subscriptions can be sold to the public. And anti-piracy groups making test purchases, of course.
Investigation launched against Smart IPTV
Anyone involved in the pirated IPTV market in Sweden risks attracting the local anti-piracy group Rรคttighetsalliansen (Rights Alliance). As one of the key forces responsible for the prison sentences served by the founders of The Pirate Bay, the Rights Alliance certainly understands torrent sites. Today, however, it finds itself fighting against IPTV piracy, which presents different problems and new opportunities.
The anti-piracy group has just announced the indictment of a man suspected of being behind the pirated IPTV service, Smart IPTV. The platform is described as "medium and well-functioning", offering a large selection of TV channels and movies. Like many similar IPTV services, Smart IPTV only accepted cryptocurrency.
The investigation began in 2019
What first drew attention to Smart IPTV is unclear, but following an initial report by Rights Alliance, police launched their own investigation. Rights Alliance does not name a specific date, but says police targeted the home of a key suspect in late 2021. Smart IPTV only accepted bitcoin payments, but that did not appear to slow down the investigation or lead to less evidence.
โHouse search images show, according to the indictment, that the suspect at the time was operating Smart IPTV and was connected to both email accounts and crypto wallets with links to the service. Cryptocurrency was also detained during the search,โ says Rights Alliance.
During the search, the police seized five mobile phones and a computer. All were found to contain material related to IPTV and/or cryptocurrency. Among other evidence, the police also found email exchanges with IPTV clients and discussions about a problematic server.
The prosecution reportedly lists a sample of 20 films, but also requests a seizure order for SEK 12,350,000, about $1.18 million. rights alliance It says that during the preliminary investigation, the suspect denied committing any wrongdoing, so guilt will have to be decided in court if there is no change of course before then.
Meanwhile, there are similarities between this IPTV case and another reported in Sweden. It also features a man arrested in 2021 in connection with a pirated IPTV service, cryptocurrency involvement, and a sudden twist on the last day of the trial.
IPTV similar stoppage
In November 2021, a local media outlet SVT reported that a โyoung manโ had been arrested in Bromรถlla, in southern Sweden. The arrest followed an investigation by Rights Alliance on behalf of major film companies, including Nordisk Film and SF.
Unsurprisingly, the police made a test purchase with bitcoin and then sought cooperation from payment services and domain companies, far removed from the supposed security of the blockchain. It was learned that the man had bought the IPTV service domain and then registered it in his name.
During the raid, several phones and computers were seized along with SEK 94,000 (about $9,000) found on a nightstand in an envelope, but the real money was believed to be elsewhere. According to investigators, customers paid to access the unnamed service using bitcoin and believed the suspect may have generated around SEK 1.5 million ($144,000).
in a report published four days later, the estimated revenue had risen to SEK 2.8 million. In the earlier report, it was claimed that police had seized SEK 358,000 (USD 33,400) worth of bitcoins from a wallet found on the man's phone. That figure jumped to SEK 400,000 ($38,400), as the cash found in the envelope suddenly turned into cash found in a box.
No matter how accurate the details were, all reports agreed that the police were far more interested in other numbers, which could potentially unlock far greater loot. All they needed was a small miracle or a little cooperation.
Deliver the codes? No I dont think so
According to a photograph provided by the police and published by The expressofficers needed access to the codes to unlock the suspect's Trezor hardware wallet, possibly a high-end 'Model T' variant, according to the company. website.
With only 14 attempts remaining to guess a passphrase of up to 50 digits, access to any digital asset seemed unlikely, so police asked the suspect to provide the code.
"I don't know. Or it's clear that I know, but I don't want to say it," he told police.
The device seemed to live up to its billing and no crypto was accessed. As for the confession, the man said that he designed the website of the IPTV service and answered some emails. People like him, he added, are just on the front lines.
โIt is illegal television. There are those at the top and it is like a pyramid, and we are the ones at the bottom who are hit,โ she said. The prosecutor agreed.
โWe don't know who is at the top of the pyramid. But he has an important role in the network, โprosecutor David Ludvigsson said of the suspect.
In copyright infringement trial, accounting issues
Regardless of his alleged minor role, the man went on trial accused of copyright infringement. He also faced charges of incorrect accounting after failing to keep records of the money he received from the sale of illegal IPTV subscriptions.
The film companies, including Nordisk Film and SF, originally sought compensation of SEK 13.5 million ($1.3 million), an amount very close to what is now sought from the man reported by Rights Alliance this week. It's unclear when that trial will take place, but the film companies are hoping for a better outcome this time.
The trial of the man who refused to hand over his codes took place earlier this year and, considering the circumstances, the court preferred probation to custodial sentences. While the Bromรถlla man would have liked that, he was later ordered to pay SEK 2 million ($192,000) in compensation to the rights holders.
The police had not yet been able to access the hardware wallet. On the last day of the trial, it was emptied to the tune of several million crowns.
