Italian Authorities Shut Down $3.2 Billion-a-Year Pirate TV, Streaming Ring (ft.com)
(Wednesday November 27, 2024 @11:42AM (msmash)
from the inevitable dept.)
- Reference: 0175553949
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/24/11/27/1619214/italian-authorities-shut-down-32-billion-a-year-pirate-tv-streaming-ring
- Source link: https://www.ft.com/content/48f63457-9c6f-4d5e-adfb-d6d47fb71c66
A piracy ring that gave 22 million subscribers in Europe cheap access to content stolen from international streaming services has been shut down by Italian authorities after a two-year investigation. From a report:
> The criminal enterprise used a complex international IT system to "capture and resell" live programming and other on-demand content from companies including sports broadcaster DAZN, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount, Sky and Disney+, prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday.
>
> Authorities estimate the operation generated revenues of [1]roughly $264.3 million a month
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/48f63457-9c6f-4d5e-adfb-d6d47fb71c66
[2] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/police-bust-pirate-streaming-service-making-250-million-per-month/
> The criminal enterprise used a complex international IT system to "capture and resell" live programming and other on-demand content from companies including sports broadcaster DAZN, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount, Sky and Disney+, prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday.
>
> Authorities estimate the operation generated revenues of [1]roughly $264.3 million a month
[2]non-paywalled link
, or $3.2 billion a year, and caused combined damages of more than $10.6 billion to the affected broadcast companies. "The rate of profit you get from these illegal activities with lower risk is equivalent to that of cocaine trafficking," Francesco Curcio, the criminal prosecutor who led the investigation, told reporters.[1] https://www.ft.com/content/48f63457-9c6f-4d5e-adfb-d6d47fb71c66
[2] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/technology/police-bust-pirate-streaming-service-making-250-million-per-month/
That’s literally (Score:2)
6 billion dollars of revenue the streaming industry lost because they refused to lower their prices down to a level that the local market would bear. It’s not like their costs increase all that much if they stream the same netflix show 4.1 billion times instead of 4 billion times. Eyeroll.
This is money the streaming services just left sitting on the table for someone else to come and pick up. What a business fail.