first 'historic' prison sentence for piracy

The operator of the pirate IPTV service Flash IPTV was sentenced to more than five years in prison. The authorities considered this victory “historic.”

“Operation 404” is the name of the Brazilian anti-piracy campaign. This campaign, launched in 2019 with support from the US, UK and Argentina, has resulted in the closure of numerous pirate sites and services and several arrests.

IPTV operators face prison

This extensive anti-piracy campaign, dubbed “Operation 404” in reference to the HTTP error code, has resulted in the arrest of several suspects since its launch in 2019. Several interventions have been successfully carried out by the ALIANZA group, which received assistance from international law. enforcement partners.

This week, ALIANZA scored its first legal victory related to Operation 404. This follows a criminal complaint filed by the group that prompted a judge at the Fifth Criminal Court of Campinas in Sao Paulo to convict pirate operator Flash IPTV, which went out of business in 2020. He was found guilty of copyright infringement, a crime for which he received a five-year prison sentence.

We’re talking about a very popular IPTV service that had 13,547 active users at its peak and $912,000 in twelve-month revenue before it was shut down. ALIANZA welcomes the ruling, calling the victory “historic.”

“We appreciate the commitment of the police and judicial authorities to solving this important case. This conviction is an important step that strengthens our commitment to protecting the rights of creators and combating illegal practices that harm the creative economy,” says Victor Roldan, CEO of ALIANZA.

While this legal victory is a first in Brazil, the anti-piracy group achieved a similar victory in Ecuador, where a pirate IPTV operator (IPTVlisto.com) was sentenced to one year in prison. Copyright holders have more and more tools to combat copyright-infringing platforms. From now on, even clients of IPTV services risk receiving a fine of up to 5,000 euros.