Illegal IPTV provider taken off the air, hundreds of thousands of TVs blacked out

On Tuesday, the FIOD and the Public Prosecution Service took a TV service off the air, which was offered via the internet (IPTV). Four people have been arrested in Almere and Den Helder. Their homes have been searched.

According to the FIOD, it concerned a TV service that was sold for cash, among other things, via call shops. With a box and a subscription of about ten euros per month, subscribers could watch all films and series from, for example, Disney +, Netflix, Viaplay, Videoland, ESPN and more than 10,000 TV channels. The TV service had hundreds of thousands of subscribers and was distributed from a data center in Den Helder. This data center was shut down and searched today. From Tuesday, the IPTV subscriptions will no longer work.

The technology of IPTV, watching television via the internet, is legal in the Netherlands. However, it is a criminal offense to offer and take out subscriptions if you use them to watch films, series and programs for which no license fee has been paid. The rights of film and program makers, broadcasting organizations and television stations to distribute their films, series, programs and TV channels are then infringed (copyright and related rights). Not only offering, but also watching illegal IPTV is punishable.

The research team suspects that the proceeds resulting from the provision of the illegal IPTV were laundered on a large scale. That is why business premises in Den Helder, Almere, Hengelo and homes in Amsterdam, Almere, Enschede, The Hague and Den Helder were searched for the presence of cash. The Advanced Search Team of the police and money dogs were used for this. In addition, Europol played an important role in the analysis of the exchanged investigative information. Administration, bank accounts, five cars, computer equipment and large amounts of cash were seized.

Company in Almere

In Almere, the FIOD raided a company on Vlaardingenstraat. They are currently loading the seized goods. This includes a large batch of televisions. Earlier in the day, the FIOD was also at a company on the Marker side.