A significant global IPTV piracy operation has been taken by legal OTT streaming services with the help of enforcement agencies in both India and the United States, culminating in a decisive blow to a vast illegal network streaming premium Indian and international content without any licensing fees.
The syndicate operated under slick brand names like Boss IPTV, Guru IPTV, Tashan IPTV, Brampton IPTV, TopIndianIPTV, Punjabi IPTV, Vois IPTV, and UltrastreamTV. These IPTV services were illegally streaming content from top broadcasters inlcuding Star, Sony, Zee, Sun Network, Aha, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and many international sports leagues.
These pirated services were being sold at the lowest prices through Android and Linux-based set-top boxes, smart TV apps, and aggressively promoted on various websites, blogs, and social media.
While users may have thought they were getting a cheap deal, investigators have revealed a bitter truth: many of these platforms were also gathering sensitive user data like credit card information, passwords, and identities which will be used for cybercrime, tax fraud, and terrorism-linked financial scams.
The pirates are also broadcasting international local US channels such as ABC, PBS, CBS, and NBC, and content from Amazon and Netflix. So, this case is not just about Indian content but goes much beyond, including international content.
Therefore, there is further risk for all Indians who are using pirated services because the pirate is committing a bigger crime than just illegally broadcasting Indian and international content. So, just beware of using these services, as this falls under scrutiny and may lead to deportation.
Major OTT streaming platforms estimate that South Asian broadcasters lose between $200–$300 million yearly due to illegal IPTV services. Earlier, YuppTV has initiated action against piracy during the time of 2021, a complaint led to the arrest of six individuals involved with Boss IPTV in Faridabad.
The fight against piracy has now gone global, As Major OTT streaming platforms filed lawsuit in the US, represented by Goldstein Law Group, LLC, accusing the syndicate of criminal copyright violations under 18 U.S.C. § 2319. According to Goldstein Law Group, using pirated IPTV services could result in serious criminal offenses in the US, and non-citizens could even face deportation, as such crimes now fall under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) jurisdiction.
Beware of illegal streaming services, switch to legal platforms to avoid legal consequences.
