Faced with the rise of illegal IPTV, the authorities are becoming more and more aggressive. In the past, the fight focused primarily on the beachheads and people who market these pirate offerings. Now, rights holders are also targeting customers of these platforms with a message that is frightening to say the least: you risk legal action and heavy penalties.
A recent case that occurred in Italy has just hit the headlines. Among our neighbors, justice has ruled and its verdict is very lenient for Internet users.
An emblematic case
The case is reported to us by the specialized site TorrentFreak. The offenses date back to 2017 when a man from Gallarate in the north of the country managed a website on which he sold pirate IPTV subscriptions. These notably allowed access to services such as Mediaset, DAZN, Sky and even Disney.
The police ended up foiling this illegal trade and in the process traced 23 customers who were prosecuted for the offense of receiving stolen goods. Mediaset, the company founded by Silvio Berlusconi, hit the nail on the head and demanded 80,000 euros in damages.
Ultimately, the two judges ruling on these cases were much less severe. They thus estimated that the defendants did indeed purchase pirate IPTV subscriptions, but that it was for strictly personal use. Therefore, and in the absence of aggravating circumstances, they note that no offense was committed by the latter. Only an administrative sanction will apply with a fine of 154 euros, which will even be reduced by 33% if those concerned pay within 60 days.
The Italian legislative arsenal
As our colleagues remind us, under a law adopted in 2023 in Italy, those who use or consult content protected by copyright (including illegal streaming) without authorization face a fine ranging from 154 to 5,000 euros .
At the start of the year, Massimiliano Capitanio, the director of AGCOM, the Italian transalpine telecommunications regulatory authority, wanted to alert potential fraudsters:
Perhaps it is not yet clear that fines of 150 to 5,000 euros will soon arrive, and this, like all fines, is a step that we would like to avoid, but which has become necessary, especially because those who do illegal business make unsuspecting users believe that they are safe.
Not sure, however, that this will be enough to dissuade the greatest number of people from giving up pirate IPTV which is now very well installed.
