Pirate IPTV Co. & Seven Workers Fined After Massive Raids Eight Years Ago

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A company in Spain and seven of its workers have been fined between 540 and 673,000 euros for their role in an international IPTV piracy operation shut down by the authorities almost eight years ago. The sentences are described as ‘historic’ since they target corporate actors rather than private individuals. However, background to the case makes this case historic for entirely different reasons.

News that the Provincial Court of Pontevedra has handed down substantial fines to individuals behind a very large pirate IPTV operation was first reported by ElMundo on Tuesday.

Seven employees and managers of Spanish company Engel Systems SL received fines ranging from 540 euros to 7,290 euros for their part in the sale of pirate decoders, plus IPTV boxes and services, through their company over eight years ago.

Engel Systems as a company was hit hardest; a 673,000 euro fine according to the El Mundo report, plus a total ban on future decoder sales. The company’s directors were disqualified for seven years, but after certain compensation was paid and the lengthy prosecution delay was factored in, none of those convicted received a prison sentence.

Considering the background, that’s fairly historic in its own right.

‘International Organized Crime’

Between 2010 and 2016, Engel Systems sold a range of devices that provided illegal access to pirated TV content. The business initially sold TV decoders reliant on card-sharing systems delivered over the internet, before progressing to pirate IPTV services offering access to around 1,600 channels. Engel Systems worked with international partners, including in Germany and Lithuania, where at least some of its servers were hosted.

A statement by Europol back in 2016 suggested that the illicit operation appeared on the radar of law enforcement when a “legitimate Spanish provider of TV decoders filed a complaint against another company for counterfeiting and selling their decoders.”

More recent information indicates that anti-piracy group EGEDA, Mediapro and Movistar Plus+ “inherited” the case via owner Telefónica’s acquisition of satellite broadcaster (and complainant) Digital+. The companies have since collected around 300,000 euros in compensation from Engel. Another 300,700+ euros should be paid off over the next two years, all thanks to a massive law enforcement operation in May 2016.

Spanish & German Police Assisted by Europol/Eurojust

Operation FAKE began as a joint investigation by Spain’s National Police and tax authorities, with support from German police, Europol and Eurojust, and culminated on the morning of May 18, 2016.

Europol deployed mobile investigation units to the offices of Engel Systems in Barcelona, allowing experts to analyze intelligence in real-time and extract data from mobile phones and storage devices on-site.

Simultaneous raids in seven Spanish cities targeted 38 homes. A total of 30 suspects were arrested in Spain and the authorities reported the seizure of 48,800 decoders imported from China. They were said to contain custom firmware created by the team in Spain. Also included in the haul, 183,200 euros in cash, financial documents, and IT equipment, plus other items of interest.

A Private Plane, 10 Genuine Luxury Vehicles, 1 Counterfeit

The nature of the 10 seized luxury vehicles and the private plane wasn’t detailed at the time while the counterfeit luxury vehicle could’ve been almost anything.

However, during the 2018 International Content Protection Summit in Poland, Chief Inspector Mónica Dopico Martínez, Head of the Intellectual Property Section at Spain’s National Police, revealed the brand of the car, along with other minor details…

An image released by Europol shows hardware seized from the bitcoin mining operation trailing into the distance. It’s an extremely impressive image but viewed through the prism of today’s power prices, mostly terrifying.