CinemaGoal IPTV: Italian police launch major operation

An operation described by police as “unprecedented”.

Ravenna’s financial police (GdF) have just carried out a large-scale operation. Named Tutto Chiaro (“Everything is clear”), the initiative was coordinated by the Bologna public prosecutor’s office and involved 200 officers. They conducted around 100 searches across Italy, as well as in France and Germany.

The law enforcement operation targeted the CinemaGoal IPTV app. In a statement, the GdF said:

“The operation, triggered by social media monitoring, revealed for the first time the existence of an innovative technology. According to investigators, it delivered better viewing quality while remaining difficult to detect.”

CinemaGoal IPTV app targeted by Italian police

Once installed on a customer’s device, the app connected to a foreign server that decrypted content from services and channels including Netflix, Disney+, Sky and DAZN.

Unfortunately for its users, many subscribers could now be at risk. The first 1000 identified customers will receive fines ranging from €154 to €5,000, in line with Italian legislation. The GdF says several thousand people are in its sights.

Police step up action against IPTV

The most intriguing element of the announcement concerns the technique itself. The authorities describe a highly innovative process in which “every three minutes, virtual machines captured the ‘original’ codes from legitimate subscriptions and immediately relayed them, thereby sending a clear signal to pirate subscribers”.

According to our colleagues at TorrentFreak, however, this approach has been well known and used for many years. Although police reportedly hold the application’s source code, they may disclose further details in future, allowing the matter to become clearer.

World Cup puts IPTV users on notice

In any event, these latest developments send a clear message. With the football World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico beginning in a few days, police are keen to show potential customers that they are keeping watch. That said, the prospect does not appear to be causing much alarm among users: France alone is estimated to have several million IPTV services in circulation.

Would the threat of fines influence your decision? Let us know in the comments.