From Catania to Hong Kong: on November 26th, the most extensive operation against audiovisual piracy ever conducted on both a national and international scale took place.

Under the directive of the Catania Prosecutor’s Office, the Italian State Police, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies from seven other countries, carried out 89 searches across fifteen Italian regions and 14 searches in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, and China. These operations targeted 102 individuals linked to a criminal organization that, through an IT platform, served over 22 million end users in Italy and abroad. The organization used illegal IPTV systems to intercept and resell live schedules and on-demand content protected by copyrights of major television platforms such as Sky, DAZN, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount, and Disney+. This activity generated approximately €3 billion annually while causing an estimated €10 billion in damages to the sector.

The operation, named “Taken Down,” was planned within the framework of Eurojust and Europol and coordinated by the Postal and Cyber Security Police Service. It was supported by the @ON (Operation Network) initiative, funded by the European Commission and led by the DIA. After over two years of investigations, more than 2,500 illegal channels and servers managing the majority of Europe’s pirated signals were seized. Those under investigation now face charges of transnational criminal conspiracy, illegal streaming of audiovisual content via IPTV, unauthorized access to IT systems, computer fraud, and money laundering. During the searches, authorities confiscated €1,650,000 in cryptocurrencies and €40,000 in cash. In Romania and Hong Kong, nine servers used to distribute pirated audiovisual signals were identified, while in England and the Netherlands, three senior administrators of the IT structure and 80 streaming flow control panels were discovered.

Reactions from institutions and those directly affected by the criminal organization have been unanimous. Andrea Abodi, Minister for Sports and Youth, stated: “The issues of audiovisual piracy and illegal betting concern criminal economies, which transcend the legitimate interests of Serie A. I do not believe that piracy will kill football, but I see it as a problem that must be addressed and resolved. We must combat it with strength and inter-institutional collaboration at an international level. The real breakthrough will come when, in addition to shutting down illegal services, we also prosecute their users, who need to understand that paying ten euros for access not only gives them a game but also makes them accomplices in criminal economies.” Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A, added: “Piracy is not just a crime; it is a direct attack on all honest people in this country, on investments, and on the quality of the content that fans and enthusiasts deserve to see.” Federico Bagnoli Rossi, President of FAPAV, commented: “This is a significant blow against criminal mindsets that operate without borders and use revenues from audiovisual piracy to fund other illicit activities. Our law enforcement agencies deserve applause for their tireless commitment to combating a phenomenon that not only harms Italy’s cultural industries and creativity but also seriously endangers the security and privacy of users who rely on pirate platforms. In 2023, approximately 319 million illegal acts were recorded, with 4 out of 10 Italian adults committing at least one act of piracy. This has a substantial impact on the audiovisual and sports content industries.” Andrea Duilio, CEO of Sky Italia, said: “Actions like this, combined with the systematic contribution of Piracy Shield, which blocks pirate sites in real-time, make the fight against a phenomenon that destroys jobs and harms the audiovisual industry more effective.”