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Pirate IPTV: Five Charged Following RCMP Cybercrime InvestigationAndy Maxwell, 28 Jul 11:54 AM The world of pirate streaming and IPTV services is on

Pirate IPTV: Five Charged Following RCMP Cybercrime Investigation Andy Maxwell, 28 Jul 11:54 AM The world of pirate streaming and IPTV services is one of intrigue. Like the internet itself, it's a web of interconnected networks populated by devices, ad hoc groups, and individuals who can appear in one place, only to pop up in another. The case of pirate IPTV entrepreneur Carlos Rocha certainly fits the profile. In December 2020, US broadcaster DISH Network and tech partner Nagrastar filed a civil suit under seal in the United States, naming Carlos Rocha plus SolTV and Stream Solutions, a pair of known IPTV brands operated by the Toronto resident. Rocha also had connections to SET TV, a supplier that collapsed under the weight of a $90 million judgment in the US. He sold subscriptions to several other IPTV services too, some of which have since gone down or are close to a service that has. Despite having a civil lawsuit to contemplate over Christmas lunch in 2020, what Rocha probably didn't know is that he was also the subject of a criminal investigation in Canada. RCMP Cybercrime Team Launch 'Project OLoki' In January 2020, the Cybercrime Team of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched 'Project OLoki', an investigation targeting a group of individuals running what police describe as a "large-scale" unlawful IPTV distribution service. With the separate civil lawsuit in the US just six months old, on June 29, 2021, the RCMP Cybercrime Team executed a search warrant on a retail location of GaloTV, also known as Soltv – the IPTV brand referenced in the DISH complaint. "The search warrant resulted in the seizure of a large number of set top boxes (used to decode and decrypt video signals) and hundreds of TV receivers and equipment used to re-broadcast video signals," a new statement from RCMP reads. Local business directories and the DISH complaint show that GaloTV/Soltv had an unassuming retail unit at 455 Rogers Road, Toronto. RCMP believes that the group targeted in 'Project OLoki' bought legitimate access to TV content from several companies and then redistributed it to the public at a "considerable discount." It's taken more than a year but police say that several people have now been charged for offenses relating to the unlawful obtaining and distribution of unlicensed content. Five Individuals From Toronto A statement from RCMP O Division (Ontario) reveals that five individuals, all from Toronto, have been charged with the same offenses, albeit to varying degrees, under Canada's Criminal Code. Manuel Da Rocha (age 67): Fraud over C$5,000 X 2 – Section 380(1)(a); Theft of Telecommunication Services – Section 326. Sell or distribute a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge – Section 327(1) Carlos Da Rocha (age 29): Fraud over C$5,000 X 2 – Section 380(1)(a); Theft of Telecommunication Services – Section 326. Sell or distribute a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge – Section 327(1) Carla Da Rocha (age 29): Fraud over C$5,000 – Section 380(1)(a); Theft of Telecommunication Services – Section 326. Sell or distribute a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge – Section 327(1) Carlos Lopes (age 48): Fraud over C$5,000 X 2 – Section 380(1)(a); Theft of Telecommunication Services – Section 326. Sell or distribute a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge – Section 327(1) Elvis Da Rocha (age 37): Fraud over C$5,000 – Section 380(1)(a); Theft of Telecommunication Services – Section 326. Sell or distribute a device to obtain Telecommunication service without payment of a lawful charge – Section 327(1) Under Canada's Criminal Code, Section 380(1)(a) carries a term of imprisonment not exceeding 14 years. Section 327 carries a term of imprisonment of not more than two years. "This investigation is a great example of the RCMP's commitment to keeping our communities safe by effectively disrupting cyber and economic crime," says Inspector Lina Dabit, Officer in Charge, O Division Cybercrime Investigative Team. The five individuals will appear at the Toronto North Ontario Court of Justice later today. In May 2022, Carlos Rocha and DISH agreed to settle their differences after the Toronto man signed a settlement judgment of US$585 million. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Pirates Liberate Games From Battle.net To Send Message To Activision Blizzard Andy Maxwell, 27 Jul 06:16 PM When videogames first began hitting the market more than 40 years ago, budgets were low, expectations were low, and customers were easily pleased. Today's market has taken all of that and turned it on its head. Fueled by the type of budgets available to filmmakers and faced with massive competition, the videogame business abandoned its bedroom-coding roots long ago. In many respects, that's clearly a good thing but in others, not so much. Today's gamers can find the experience of dealing with corporations jarring, especially when their concerns are perceived to be less important than company profits. Most can do nothing about that if they want to keep playing games but it's still possible for a tiny minority to make enough noise to get noticed. Blizzless Project Breaks Gaming Shackles After LAN gaming provided the momentum, internet gaming was the logical progression most gamers wanted. On the flip side, the logical progression for many developers was to use heightened connectivity as a way to grant or deny access to games, while controlling, squeezing, and data mining their customers. All of these things and more are cited by the Blizzless Project as motivations for their recent actions. Starting a few days ago, Blizzless – a group thought to be from Russia – began releasing modified versions of classic Blizzard games. Starcraft: Remastered, Warcraft III: Reforged, and Diablo II: Resurrected were all made available via the group's Discord channel, minus the mandatory requirement for the games to maintain a connection to Battle.net. "The Blizzless Project is a project to remove restrictions in the classic products of a well-known company, imposed by network binding to servers," a Blizzless Project statement reads. "Our team sees the goal in developing alternative servers to be able to use the purchased products without restrictions, without collecting personal data (telemetry) and after the termination of support." Team Likely to Receive Pushback From Activision Blizzard The idea of liberating games from Battle.net certainly isn't new. In March 1998, the emulation package 'bnetd' hit the StarCraft scene. Initially branded 'StarHack', the reverse-engineered project soon ran into trouble after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the Software Publishers Association. Developer Mark Baysinger abandoned the project later that year, but because the project was open sourced under the GNU General Public License, it lived on long enough to get sued by Blizzard. The case was an early test of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions and despite support from EFF, the developers were comprehensively defeated. Blizzless seem unconcerned by the case law but freeing these titles from Battle.net is just one of their many motivators. Take Away Our Games, We Take Them Back Among the many grievances highlighted by Blizzless, the idea that games can be bought and then taken away on a whim will be most familiar to gamers. Alongside the launch of Warcraft III: Reforged, Blizzard forced all players using the Battle.net version of Warcraft III to upgrade to the Reforged client. The company then shut down the original game's servers. Blizzless is also unhappy at the way Russian and Belarusian gamers have been treated in response to their governments' actions in Ukraine. "Events around the world have shown that access to products can be easily denied due to your nationality and where you live," the group notes, adding that the 'Every voice matters' slogan "is now nothing more than a vestige." Finally, and perhaps with an eye on how 'bnetd' survived longer than expected two decades ago, Blizzless says that opening up its work might be possible in the future. "We plan to release some of our source code when we're done so that the community can explore and use it," the group says. Given the above, it would be somewhat hypocritical not to. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2022 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