Europol dismantles network of illegal streaming of sports and other pirated content

MADRID (AP) — A Europol operation during last summer’s European Championship and Paris Olympics dismantled a network of several hundred providers of illegal streaming of sports and other pirated content, Spain’s top soccer league said Thursday.

The European Union’s law enforcement agency identified more than 560 resellers of pirated content that included streaming of movies, series and TV channels. La Liga, which cooperated in the investigation, said more than 100 suspects were identified and 11 were arrested.

“The operation was carried out in the context of major sporting events this summer such as UEFA EURO 2024 and the Olympic Games, with the main objective of combating digital piracy in the form of the publication, distribution and broadcasting of digital content subject to copyright and related rights,” the league said.

More than 100 searches took place, with the seizure of nearly 30 servers and 270 IPTV devices, as well as 100 domains linked to illegal activities. Drugs and weapons were also seized, and cryptocurrency worth about 1.6 million euros ($1.64 million) was confiscated, along with 40,000 euros in cash.

The network distributed more than 2,500 TV channels and reached over 22 million users worldwide without the consent of the copyright holders, the Spanish league said.

The operation involved 15 countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

“Operation Kratos,” took place from June to September and brought together law enforcement authorities from EU and non-EU members, as well as EU agencies and private digital content companies.

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