Dutch content pirates were sentenced to 100 hours of community service, conditional imprisonment and probation.
Following the successful 2013 raid of five homes in Apeldoorn, Enschede, Vlagtwedde and the Hague, it was announced that the pirates arrested during these raids have been sentenced at the Zutphen courthouse, The Netherlands.
“Pay TV piracy will not be tolerated in The Netherlands, and it is our intent to ensure that these sentences dissuade others from illegal content distribution,” said Ger Laning of the Dutch Police.
“Piracy poses a severe threat to pay media businesses. By working with technology and anti-piracy experts like Irdeto, we are able to disrupt pirate activity and bring criminals to justice. The Dutch Police will continue to protect the revenues of Dutch pay TV operators by combating this type of cybercrime.”
The case began in 2011 when Irdeto and local Dutch TV providers began investigations into several suspects offering control word sharing equipment and illegal pirate subscriptions for sale. Following the successful raids, the evidence was analysed by the Public Prosecution Service and the defendants were brought to trial.
“Piracy has a negative impact on the pay TV industry, and AAPA members such as Irdeto provide an important service in tracking and investigating those involved in this illegal activity,” said Sheila Cassells, executive director of the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA).
“Results such as this show those involved in the theft of content that it will be taken seriously by the authorities. AAPA continues to work hard to address the problems posed by piracy and mitigate the effect that the issue has on the industry.”
Control word sharing piracy is one of many major threats posed to pay TV operators and broadcasters, which has dramatically increased with growing broadband penetration. Control word sharing occurs when a pirate steals and retransmits a regularly changing control word that is passed between a smart card and a set-top-box (STB), allowing subscribers to watch TV content they have not legitimately paid for. In this case, Irdeto was able to prepare detailed evidence regarding the control word sharing networks in question.
