Following a report from Rights Alliance, SØIK has arrested three Danish men in a comprehensive case concerning illegal sale of films and IPTV subscriptions.
On June 3rd, authorities in the USA, Canada and Europe, including Denmark, carried out a coordinated action against television piracy, in which a total of 11 people were arrested, incl. three Danes from respectively Hvidovre, Vejle and Billund.
The action was supported by Europol and Eurojust and involved 16 different countries. Rights Alliance was responsible for the reporting of the Danish part of the case and in December 2019 asked SØIK to join the ongoing Spanish investigation after strong suspicion of a connection between the Danish ringleaders and the international network, rooted in Spain.
All three Danes are now charged with having sold illegal subscriptions to among others 90 Danish and 5100 international TV channels, in addition to access to movies and popular streaming services such as Netflix, HBO and Amazon.
Affects the rights holders
The international network has earned more than 100 million DKK from selling illegal subscriptions at a price way below market price. The profitable business for the perpetrators has meant that during the extensive operation, values worth more than 36 million DKK were seized.
Deputy Police Inspector Michael Lichtenstein from the IP Task Force in SØIK, who has been in charge of the investigation, says the following about the case in a press release from the prosecution:
“TV piracy is destructive not just for TV and film producers. It affects all those who work with making films and television – e.g. actors, musicians, hairdressers and makeup artists – because earnings decline sharply when rights holders are not paid for their services. At the same time, illegal streaming is also a breeding ground for a large, black market, where VAT and taxes are not paid on earnings, which affects the economy and, essentially, all of us,” he says.
The National Cybercrime Center of the Danish National Police participated in the searches and will now investigate the seized PC and server equipment to determine the role of the Danes charged in the case. The three arrested Danes were released after questioning.