Record blow against audiovisual piracy: criminal convictions, damages, and fines against one of the largest illegal IPTV networks

The Criminal Chamber of the National Court has handed down a judgment against one of the largest illegal IPTV networks for offences against the market and consumers, intellectual property, and money laundering, setting one of the largest compensation awards in the history of Spain for an intellectual property offence.

The case, opened years ago following an initial complaint by Nagravision, was driven forward thanks to the complaint and subsequent extension filed by LALIGA, which provided decisive purchase evidence for the verification of the facts. Multiple companies later joined the judicial proceedings as private prosecutors, such as Movistar Plus+, Mediapro, and Egeda, and the case was ultimately resolved with the defendants accepting the joint accusation brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the rest of the private prosecutors.

The investigation was carried out mainly by the Central Cybercrime Unit of the Directorate General of the Police, as well as by the Intellectual Property Group of the Central Unit for Specialized and Violent Crime (UDEV), with the support of Europol and Eurojust in international coordination.

The judgment sets compensation of 12 million euros for the affected companies and more than 30 million euros in fines for money laundering. The network, led by the well-known ‘Dash, the Iranian’, operated through channels such as rapidiptv.com, rapidiptv.net, and iptvstack.com, illegally distributing football broadcasts, films, and series, including LALIGA content, to more than two million people from servers spread across 13 countries on three continents.

To launder that money, the organisation used payment gateways, cryptocurrency exchanges, shell companies, and false invoices. Among the identified operations were the construction of a residential building in Iran, the purchase of a property in Barcelona valued at 1.7 million euros, and the acquisition of two high-end vehicles for 400,000 euros. The agreement includes the confiscation of all seized assets and funds and the permanent shutdown of the domains.

Javier Tebas, LALIGA’s president, stated “Audiovisual fraud is a scourge that threatens the survival of an industry that is fundamental to the European economy, namely live sport. We are proud of this exemplary sanction, which shows that piracy must be fought forcefully at every level, especially against the organisations and mafias behind it.”

This result demonstrates the relevance of LALIGA’s global anti-piracy strategy, which in the 2024/25 season succeeded in reducing piracy consumption in Spain by 60%. This set of actions, beyond strictly judicial measures and operations with the State Security Forces and Corps, includes other pillars such as education, institutional action, and technology.