The Italian State Police, acting on orders from the Catania District Prosecutor's Office, has completed a large-scale international operation against audiovisual piracy, called "Switch Off," aimed at dismantling the criminal network known as "pezzotto." The operation involved searches and seizures in several Italian cities and abroad, disrupting an illicit system that generated estimated revenues of between €8 and €10 million per month thanks to over 100 illegal subscriptions purchased in Italy.
The investigation, launched about a year ago and built on the previous "Taken Down" operation in 2024, led to the dismantling of a complex IT infrastructure used to distribute illegal IPTV content. Servers located across Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Americas stored and broadcast on-demand and live programming from Sky, DAZN, Mediaset, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Paramount, and Disney+, which were resold at low prices via cryptocurrency payments.
The criminal network, comprising 31 suspects in Italy and other countries, is held responsible for computer fraud, money laundering, fictitious asset registration, and unauthorized access to computer systems. In Italy, investigations have involved Catania, Messina, Palermo, Naples, Brindisi, Castellammare di Stabia, Trani, Lanciano, and Cardito, while international cooperation has extended investigations to the United Kingdom, Spain, Romania, Kosovo, Canada, India, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.
The operation's results included the seizure of three illegal IPTV platforms, the blocking of approximately 100,000 end users in Italy and millions worldwide, and the arrest of approximately 1,000 network resellers. A SIM farm was discovered in Naples with over 200 phone cards, dozens of smartphones, and numerous credit cards used for cybercrime. Eurojust called the operation "unprecedented" at the international level in terms of its scope and complexity, praising the coordination of the Catania Prosecutor's Office.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
It was a huge operation, but I wonder if they'll really stop piracy. I think there will always be ways to circumvent the laws and continue doing illicit business, as has always been the case in the past.