IPTV: You are no longer safe, justice is directly targeting customers

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On paper, this case is reminiscent of many others. On September 25, a Greek court sentenced a reseller of IPTV boxes and subscriptions to 8 years in prison and a fine of 17,000 euros. As the country's judicial authorities point out, this is nevertheless an unprecedented sentence for this type of crime in the country.

Customers in the sights of justice

In detail, investigators were able to see that this IPTV business had generated several million euros in profit and had thousands of customers who paid between 15 and 20 euros per month.

But, and this is where this case really takes on an unprecedented aspect, justice has managed to recover the subscribers' data and is now heading towards them. According to our colleagues at L’Avenir which quote the Greek media Skai :

The judicial authorities have already arrested and prosecuted end users, investigations are ongoing.

Suffice to say that this is not reassuring for fraudsters who are very numerous in the country, as in the rest of the world. While the nature of the danger is not yet known, we know, for example, that in French law, using pirated IPTV is considered counterfeiting and can result in up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of 375,000 euros. Of course, in reality, no one is thinking of applying this law to the millions of offenders in France.

Heavy fines in Italy

In other European countries, the risks incurred by users are now much more concrete. Italy is planning an automated system for sending fines as soon as an Internet user connects to a service that broadcasts sports matches illegally. Luigi de Siervo, CEO of Serie A, was delighted:

This is a fundamental step in the fight against piracy. Finally, thanks to the protocol signed by AGCOM (the equivalent of Arcom, Editor's note) with the Guardia di Finanza and the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, the identification data of users of illegal streams will be made available to the judicial authorities.

In our neighboring countries, offenders who use illegal IPTV are exposed to fines of up to 5,000 euros. Even if this penalty may seem impressive, this form of piracy continues to be very successful in the country. To learn more about this subject, do not hesitate to reread our dedicated article here. What do you think of this increasingly strong insistence from the authorities towards customers ? Tell us in the comments.

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