SuperCOCO
24-09-2008, 18:16
Thousands cut off as pirate TV gang scuppered
By: thinkSPAIN , Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Around 60,000 mainly British and Irish expats living in Alicante, Murcia and Almería are unable to continue enjoying their favourite TV programmes after the company supplying them was closed down in a Guardia Civil operation codenamed 'Cimitarra'.
It is estimated that the gang netted more than half a billion euros illegally broadcasting pirate satellite channels originating from the UK.
Fourteen people, including eight Spaniards, three Britons and several Eastern Europeans, have been arrested.
The company, which was based on an industrial estate in Algorfa (Alicante), charged its customers an installation fee of €590 euros and between €18-22 a month according to the number of channels contracted.
A complaint lodged by an employee of the Sogecable digital company was responsible for launching the investigation that was handled by the Guardia Civil in Torrevieja.
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The Civil Guard has dismantled a network based in the Vega Baja, accused of pirating digital television signals to resell at low prices to a wide customer base that stretched from Benidorm to Almeria.
Yesterday the Guardía detained 17 people who are reputed to be mostly British, but sources close to the raid indicated that the figure could increase as the investigation open.
During police searches to at least eleven homes, agents confiscated items valued at over one million euros and 500,000 euros in cash.
Investigations were launched four months ago by agents of the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil of Torrevieja, Alicante, Novelda and Pilar de la Horadada.
According to the same sources, those arrested in Torrevieja and other localities of Vega Baja had created their own platform for distributing TV and radio signals between the entire British population. Under a semblance of legality, offering a service to their customers for around 20 euros a month.
The business was widespread throughout the province and the Andalusian coast so the number of affected is very high, indicated sources. The alleged fraudsters had great telecommunications knowledge of and were able to encode and decode signals from the satellite to market their service, to create their own digital platform.
The extensive network infrastructure offered a semblance of legality with which managed to capture their customers and gain significant economic benefits.
The complicated investigations have dragged on for months. Courtesy of Información.
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Seems that these people was receiving the channels, and then re-encoding with Irdeto and broadcast as DVB-T.
Regards,
:SC:
By: thinkSPAIN , Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Around 60,000 mainly British and Irish expats living in Alicante, Murcia and Almería are unable to continue enjoying their favourite TV programmes after the company supplying them was closed down in a Guardia Civil operation codenamed 'Cimitarra'.
It is estimated that the gang netted more than half a billion euros illegally broadcasting pirate satellite channels originating from the UK.
Fourteen people, including eight Spaniards, three Britons and several Eastern Europeans, have been arrested.
The company, which was based on an industrial estate in Algorfa (Alicante), charged its customers an installation fee of €590 euros and between €18-22 a month according to the number of channels contracted.
A complaint lodged by an employee of the Sogecable digital company was responsible for launching the investigation that was handled by the Guardia Civil in Torrevieja.
-----------
The Civil Guard has dismantled a network based in the Vega Baja, accused of pirating digital television signals to resell at low prices to a wide customer base that stretched from Benidorm to Almeria.
Yesterday the Guardía detained 17 people who are reputed to be mostly British, but sources close to the raid indicated that the figure could increase as the investigation open.
During police searches to at least eleven homes, agents confiscated items valued at over one million euros and 500,000 euros in cash.
Investigations were launched four months ago by agents of the Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil of Torrevieja, Alicante, Novelda and Pilar de la Horadada.
According to the same sources, those arrested in Torrevieja and other localities of Vega Baja had created their own platform for distributing TV and radio signals between the entire British population. Under a semblance of legality, offering a service to their customers for around 20 euros a month.
The business was widespread throughout the province and the Andalusian coast so the number of affected is very high, indicated sources. The alleged fraudsters had great telecommunications knowledge of and were able to encode and decode signals from the satellite to market their service, to create their own digital platform.
The extensive network infrastructure offered a semblance of legality with which managed to capture their customers and gain significant economic benefits.
The complicated investigations have dragged on for months. Courtesy of Información.
----------
Seems that these people was receiving the channels, and then re-encoding with Irdeto and broadcast as DVB-T.
Regards,
:SC: