Worldwide operation against audiovisual piracy. The “Switch Off” investigation found six servers in Romania

The international investigation, called “Switch Off”, which aimed to combat cybercrime and audiovisual piracy, has ended with significant results, the authorities in Italy announce.

Italian authorities made a significant “catch” PHOTO Video capture

Planned and led by the Catania Prosecutor's Office, it was coordinated by Eurojust with the judicial authorities of the countries involved and with the involvement and collaboration of Europol and Interpol.

The investigation led to the indictment of 31 members of a transnational organized crime group, accused of broadcasting restricted television programs, unauthorized access to a computer system, computer fraud, fictitious holding of assets and money laundering.

An IT infrastructure that illegally served millions of end users both nationally and internationally was dismantled.

Using a sophisticated computer system – illegal IPTV – live programs and on-demand content protected by television rights owned by national and international television platforms such as Sky, Dazn, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount and Disney+ were fraudulently intercepted and resold.

More than a hundred Postal Police officers searched 31 suspects in 11 Italian cities and 14 foreign targets, in collaboration with police forces from the United Kingdom, Spain, Romania and Kosovo.

Measures have also been taken in Canada, India, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, thanks to the cooperation of local authorities. These illicit activities allowed the criminal organization to generate millions of euros in monthly revenue, causing significant financial damage to broadcasters, film studios and sports leagues.

The operation shut down a thousand Italian retailers, locking out more than 100,000 end users in Italy and millions worldwide. In Italy, three illegal IPTV platforms have been seized, with seizure boards placed on showcase sites and Telegram groups used for sales.

In Romania, an important global IPTV company was identified, which distributed content through six servers located in our country and in an African country, writes gazzetta.it.