Italian financial police have taken down a sophisticated piracy ring built around the CINEMAGOAL application. The illegal streaming network offered access to premium streaming platforms like DAZN, Netflix, Sky, and Disney+, causing them to lose around €300 million in revenues.
The takedown of the CINEMAGOAL piracy ring is a major win for the Italian authorities and the affected rights holders. However, it has also demonstrated how sophisticated illegal streaming has become, and how increasingly difficult it is becoming to shut down such operations.
Sophisticated tech used to offer illegal streaming services
According to the Italian authorities, the illegal streaming piracy ring used highly sophisticated technology built around the CINEMAGOAL app.
Unlike the usual illegal IPTV streaming, the app discreetly connected subscribers’ devices to overseas servers, which decrypted the streaming content, allowing them to access premium networks.
The brain of the illegal streaming platform was virtual machines that ran 24/7, spread across Italy. These machines used access codes from legitimate subscriptions, which the piracy ring had registered under fake names, allowing the app to send unencrypted signals to users.
Users of the illegal streaming platform reportedly paid between €40 and €130 for a year’s worth of access to premium streaming services.
CINEMAGOAL piracy ring operators managed to evade authorities
In addition to the sophisticated illegal streaming technology, CINEMAGOAL piracy ring operators implemented several measures to evade authorities.
Firstly, the entire system was reportedly able to bypass streaming platforms’ security checks. Additionally, the CINEMAGOAL app did not associate users with a fixed IP address, which made it harder for authorities to detect and identify the end-users.
The piracy ring operators also used cryptocurrencies, foreign accounts, and accounts registered under fake names for payment, further hindering law enforcement investigations.
Despite the measures taken by the piracy ring operators, Italian authorities were able to uncover the illegal streaming service through social media monitoring.
The Italian financial police, working in collaboration with Eurojust, the EU judicial cooperation body, then secured the seizure of foreign servers and the CINEMAGOAL application source code.
Italian authorities have identified subscribers of the illegal app
In addition to shutting down the illegal streaming operation, authorities have identified the first 1,000 subscribers of the illegal streaming service. These users will reportedly start receiving notices of fines, ranging between €154 and €5,000.
The streaming platforms that were affected by the CINEMAGOAL piracy ring have welcomed Italian authorities’ actions in shutting down the illicit service:
“I want to thank the Guardia di Finanza of Ravenna and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bologna for this important anti-piracy operation that demonstrates the increasing effectiveness in countering even the most sophisticated technologies,” stated Andrea Duilio, Sky Italia’s CEO.
He also warned users of the various consequences of using illegal streaming services:
“…those who choose illegal streaming not only feed the multi-million profits of criminal organisations, but also risk fines and expose their personal data to theft and fraud.”