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Operation 'IPTV Special': 49 Pirate IPTV Resellers Fined €10,000 EachAndy Maxwell, 08 Dec 09:58 AM Known in Italy as 'pezzotto', piracy-configured s

Operation 'IPTV Special': 49 Pirate IPTV Resellers Fined €10,000 Each Andy Maxwell, 08 Dec 09:58 AM Known in Italy as 'pezzotto', piracy-configured set-top devices have been blamed for mainstream rightsholders losing massive amounts of revenue, much of it connected to cheap subscriptions to unlicensed IPTV providers. In response to the growing threat, Italian authorities have been cracking down on all players in the ecosystem, from key suppliers right down to the humble consumer. These chains of events often begin with a raid against a supplier, such as the one that targeted 'IPTV Special' in July 2020. IPTV Special Shut Down In response to complaints that the provider was supplying Sky, DAZN, Mediaset, and other rightsholders' content without permission, the Economic and Financial Police Unit of Venice launched an investigation in 2019. In July 2020, this was followed up by a Guardia di Finanza (GdF) operation, which at the time included 72 searches across 32 Italian provinces, targeting 71 people involved in the IPTV operation. More than 500,000 Euros in Fines The service, which allegedly had a turnover of around a million euros per year, was supported by a number of individuals who decrypted the signals of pay-TV operators in order to distribute them via the Internet. Around four dozen people were also identified as resellers of the service, who together helped to service around 65,000 customers. More than a year on it appears the authorities are still identifying potential suspects but for the resellers identified thus far, involvement is proving somewhat costly. Anti-piracy group FAPAV describes the resellers as "small entrepreneurs" but for 49 of them, fines are the end result. "At the end of this last investigative phase, the [authorities] have now sanctioned the 49 identified resellers, who have been accused of administrative violations in the field of copyright for a total value of over 500,000 euros," the anti-piracy group reveals. This means that each of the resellers faces a fine in excess of 10,000 euros according to FAPAV, which notes that some of the offenders have already paid the administrative fines. 65,000 Subscribers' Cases Being Examined Since last year, Italian authorities have done what others in most other regions have shied away from – gone after customers of pirate IPTV services. In February 2020, more than 220 were reported to the judicial authorities, warning of fines and potential prison sentences. This September, news broke that another 240 had been referred, all of whom could be tied to resellers of pirate IPTV services. According to FAPAV, IPTV Special had more than 65,000 customers, each of whom gained access to pirated content owned by major media and distribution companies. Their positions are now reportedly "being examined" by the authorities to determine the next step. Dealing with them all could prove unwieldy but it seems likely that at least some will face some type of action if similar referrals are made. As for the extent of potential punishments, the situation remains unclear. When the last batch of user referrals was reported, local media cited potential fines ranging between 2,582 euros through to 25,822 euros, plus criminal violations relating to the use of equipment designed for the "illegal decoding of conditional access audiovisual broadcasts." Given that resellers are now being hit with 10,000 euro fines, punishments at the lower end of that scale seem more realistic. Nevertheless, even a couple of thousand euros would be significant and certainly not what users had in mind when trying to save money. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. YouTube Processes 4 Million Content ID Claims Per Day, Transparency Report Reveals Ernesto Van der Sar, 07 Dec 09:57 PM Earlier this year we reported that Google had processed the five billionth DMCA takedown request for its search engine, a massive number. Google search has reported these numbers for nearly a decade. However, the volume of copyright claims sent to its sister site YouTube has remained a mystery. Until now. Yesterday, YouTube released its first-ever copyright transparency report which provides an in-depth overview of how many 'infringements' are reported on the platform. The first release covers the first half of 2021 and shows that the volume of reported infringements well exceeds that of the search engine. Webform, Copyright Match, and Content ID Before diving into the numbers it's good to clarify that YouTube has three main copyright reporting tools. The most basic one is a DMCA webform through which anyone can report an infringement. The second option is the Copyright Match tool, which is open to roughly two million channel operators whose content is regularly reposted. The third and perhaps best-known option is the Content ID program. This service is the most advanced and works with reference files that rightsholders can upload. It's also the tool that's most limited in availability, as fewer than 10,000 rightsholders are approved to use it. Claim Options While only a limited number of copyright holders can use Content ID, its mostly automated nature results in the most claims by far. 722,649,569 Content ID claims During the first half of this year, 722,649,569 Content ID claims were made. This is an average of four million per day or 46 per second. Most of this activity is automated without any human involvement. The chart below puts the different claims in context. Compared to Content ID, the number of Webform (2.2M), Enterprise Webform (2.9M), and Copyright Match (1.7M) claims seem rather minuscule but these are all well over a million too. Claims Per Tool Mistakes and Abuse One of the reasons why YouTube limited the use of Content ID to a small group of rightsholders is the potential damage that can be done. An inaccurate or abusive reference file can result in thousands of automated claims. This potential for abuse isn't purely theoretical. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted two men who allegedly "stole" millions in advertising revenue by making false copyright claims through YouTube by falsely representing rightsholders. Regular mistakes happen as well, and that's why YouTube has a team that reviews the accuracy of reference files. These can be flagged if they include content for which rightsholders don't exclusively own the rights, or if public domain content is included, for example. YouTube's transparency report suggests that relatively speaking, Content ID indeed leads to fewer mistakes and less abuse. Of all requests, less than one percent is invalid or abusive, while 99.3% of all claims result in removals. If we look at the traditional Webform, only 83.8% of the claims result in content being removed, while 8.6% are classified as abusive and 6.5% as invalid. The Copyright Match tool ranks somewhere between the other two options in terms of accuracy. Counter Notifications Of course, YouTube users always have the option to dispute claims, either through the Content ID system or through a counter-notice. Keeping the differences in accuracy in mind, it's no surprise that the highest percentage of counter-notices are sent in response to webform complaints. The number is higher for regular Webform takedowns (5.2%) than Enterprise Webforms (1.9%), which are used by trusted partners. For the Copyright Match tool, only 1.3% of the claims are disputed. Counter Notice Percentages For the Content ID system, the dispute percentage is even lower at 0.5%. However, in absolute numbers, this translates to 3.7 million disputes, which is still a significant number. Disputes Can Pay Off According to YouTube's numbers, it can certainly pay off to dispute a claim. As shown below, the majority of all Content ID disputes (60%) are resolved in favor of the uploader. Disputes Resolved in Favor of? It is worth noting that Content ID claims don't automatically lead to content removals. Many rightsholders prefer to keep content up in exchange for the advertising revenues the video generates. Content ID claims can also be escalated in regular DMCA takedown claims, after which they enter a separate process. If a claim is disputed there, YouTube is required by law to restore the content, unless the rightsholder files a lawsuit. This happens in fewer than 1% of all counter-notice cases. Questions The full report adds more context and details to the numbers covered here and is well worth a read. However, it also raises some questions. For example, there are no details on what percentage of all Content ID claims result in takedowns vs. monetization. In addition, the report doesn't show how many counter-notices Google itself chooses to reject. We requested further transparency from YouTube on these points and also asked if Enterprise Webform notices are treated differently than those sent through the regular Webform. However, a spokesperson said that they are not able to comment on these issues. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2021 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company