Argentina: Piracy network taken down
A landmark anti-piracy operation in Argentina has dismantled an extensive global IPTV criminal network, which served up to 8 million paying users worldwide and had a potential reach of over 20 million.
This sweeping operation was spearheaded by the Argentine judiciary’s Cybercrime Prosecutor’s Office (UFEIC) in San Isidro, with raids conducted on four sophisticated office sites in Vicente López (Buenos Aires Province) by the Provincial Investigations Police (DDI of San Isidro).
Key industry partners including LaLiga, Alianza, Nagravision, Telecom Argentina, and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) provided technical expertise and strategic support for the takedown.
The investigation revealed a network of illegal IPTV services operating under numerous pirate brand names—such as My Family Cinema, TV Express, Eppi Cinema, Weiv TV, Red Play, Duna TV, Boto TV, Break TV, Super TV Premium, Pulse TV, Football Zone, MegaTV+, GTV, Onda TV, and many more. These services illegally fed content to TV boxes (including Duosat and BTV) across Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and beyond.
Notably, the piracy network operated through a web of legally registered companies in multiple countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Singapore, China, Colombia, the United States, and Canada. Some of these entities—such as Valoroso, Space Place Consulting, Goose, BitKernel, Peliplat, and FatFish Media—claimed to offer legitimate digital services.
LaLiga’s president, Javier Tebas, called the operation “a before and after in the fight against digital piracy in Latin America,” emphasizing that audiovisual piracy is a transnational organized crime issue.
