OPERATION SWITCH OFF TAKES MAJOR ILLEGAL IPTV PLATFORMS OFFLINE

A coordinated international law-enforcement operation led by the Catania District Prosecutor’s Office and Italy’s Postal and Cybercrime Police has targeted an industrial-scale illegal IPTV network, with investigators naming 31 suspects following raids in 11 Italian cities and 14 countries. 

ACE said the action took offline infrastructure serving millions of users, while Italian authorities and supporting reports said more than 1,000 resellers in Italy were shut down and more than 125,000 end users were blocked in the country, with “millions” more impacted worldwide.

The operation resulted in the seizure of three well-known illegal IPTV platforms – IPTVItalia, migliorIPTV and DarkTV – alongside associated websites and Telegram sales channels. Investigators said the services offered pirated live and on-demand programming from major rights holders and platforms including Sky, DAZN, Mediaset, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount and Disney+.

Authorities said the investigation grew out of leads and forensic work linked to a previous operation, Taken Down, and included network monitoring and financial tracing, including cryptocurrency flows. Reports also pointed to proEuropaTV being identified in Romania, distributing via six servers in Romania and an African country, and the discovery of a SIM farm in Naples with more than 200 phone cards.

ACE and industry partners framed the takedown as timely ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, with DAZN saying the case showed the impact of “coordinated global action” against piracy that undermines investment and exposes consumers to fraud and cyber risks.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com