Police Shut Down Pirate Streaming Network That Cost Broadcaster ‘Millions’

Following a complaint filed two years ago by a national pay-TV broadcaster, police in Germany say they now have three main suspects in custody following a huge law enforcement operation. Over 150 officers carried out searches against 18 suspects in 17 locations, with the aim of shutting down an as-yet unnamed illegal streaming operation with an estimated 30,000 subscribers. The three men, aged between 36 and 59, face charges including suspected commercial computer fraud, which carries a potential sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

For what appears to be operational reasons, police in Germany have only just revealed details of a massive law enforcement operation carried out against a pirate streaming operation last month.

In a joint statement on Monday, the Police Headquarters of Upper Franconia and the Central Office for Cybercrime Bavaria, revealed the culmination of a two-year investigation into what is being described as an ‘illegal streaming network’. In June 2023, a major pay-TV broadcaster filed a criminal complaint, in which it claimed that damages to its business could already be measured in the millions of euros.

Investigation Focused on 36-year-old

While police are yet to name the broadcaster, a TF source identified pay-TV broadcaster Sky as the complainant. During the investigation, three people emerged as the main suspects; a 36-year-old man from the Wunsiedel district in northeastern Bavaria, a 59-year-old man from the Rheinisch-Bergisch district in the Cologne Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, and a 37-year-old man from the Tuttlingen district in the south of Baden-Württemberg.

The roles of the men remain unclear. Police say that 36-year-old is suspected of “illegally making programs available” to an estimated 30,000 customers of the service all over the world, causing millions of euros in damages. The 59 and 37-year-olds are being held under suspicion of similar crimes. An exact amount will likely emerge at trial, but our source believes that alleged damages exceed $10m.

Major Operation Mid-February

In what appears to be a significant law enforcement operation, police say over 150 task force officers from Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Saarland, targeted a total of 18 suspects at 17 locations in Germany. Arrest warrants against the three main suspects were issued by the Bamberg District Court for suspected commercial computer fraud.

“Officers secured cash of about 16,000 euros and around 35,000 euros in cryptocurrency. Several accounts were also seized by the Central Office for Cybercrime Bavaria,” police note.

Police say that over 200 ‘digital devices’ were seized in the operation, along with 16,000 euros in cash and around 35,000 euros in cryptocurrency. “Several servers” allegedly used for illegal streaming were also shut down.

Since their arrests, the three main suspects have remained in custody, reportedly held at various correctional facilities in Germany. All three are now being held in Banburg and if convicted, face potential prison sentences of between six months and ten years.

Police says that an unspecified number of additional defendants are accused of acting as resellers for the illegal streaming service or simply using the platform themselves.

Pirate Streaming Service Still Unnamed

Authorities in Germany rarely identify suspects by name and in this matter, the name of the pirate service hasn’t been named either. Without those details, it’s difficult to assess the significance of the shutdown, or even confirm the shutdown itself. It’s also possible that this case isn’t necessarily about a traditional single central streaming service exclusively serving its own customers.

Since police use the term “illegal streaming”, there’s no obvious reason to doubt the nature of the delivery method. However, a source informs TF that at this early stage, variants on familiar themes shouldn’t be immediately ruled out.

For example, charges of commercial computer fraud have been used in ‘cardsharing’ cases for at least a decade in Germany. The term “streaming network” has been used to describe scenarios where legally purchased TV subscriptions are used to access encrypted streams, before the decrypted broadcasts are made available to others.

From there, streams are typically shared further still, to a much wider and potentially global audience.