Greek authorities dismantle illegal IPTV network with 86,000 customers
Greek law enforcement has dismantled a highly organized illegal IPTV streaming network that had operated since 2017, serving over 86,000 customers. The operation utilized specialized server infrastructure, VPNs, and IP steering to bypass traditional blocks, generating over –7 million in illicit profits while causing an estimated –50 million in losses to legal content providers.
Key Takeaways
- Identified database revealed 86,000 active customers across Greece and abroad who accessed unauthorized pay-TV content.
- Network generated approximately €7 million in profit with more than €280,000 invested in technical infrastructure alone.
- Criminal group used a professional multi-level structure including technical management, subscriber-management systems, and IP steering to bypass blocking.
- Authorities seized 18,885 euros in cash, four vehicles, and specialized equipment including IPTV boxes and satellite decoding devices.
- Current investigation involves 71 identified end users who now face administrative fines under Greek copyright legislation.
Why It Matters
This operation highlights the industrial scale of modern IPTV piracy, where decentralized server architectures and professional management systems allow illegal services to survive for years. For legal providers like Cosmote TV and Nova, these networks siphon massive revenue while necessitating constant investment in dynamic blocking and anti-piracy technologies. The inclusion of end-user fines signals a regulatory shift from targeting only distributors to penalizing the consumer base, potentially chilling demand for illicit services across the Mediterranean. Watch for whether Greek authorities follow through on fines for the identified 86,000 users, which would mark a major shift in piracy enforcement intensity.
Additional Context
The Greek crackdown aligns with broader regional efforts to curb escalating piracy rates. Per the European Commission's 2025 assessment, IPTV piracy continues to rise across the EU despite 2023 recommendations for stricter enforcement. Consequently, Greece enacted Law 5179/2025 in February 2025, significantly hardening penalties. According to reporting from Kyriakou Law and local Greek outlets in early 2025, the law introduced tiered administrative fines ranging from €750 for individual users up to €5,000 for commercial exploitation, with criminal penalties including up to one year of imprisonment.
Industry data underscores the financial stakes involved in this region. Per Naftemporiki in July 2024, Greece's pirate platforms are estimated to serve between 600,000 and 800,000 subscribers, compared to roughly 1.3 million legal pay-TV subscribers. This translates to an estimated annual revenue loss of at least €125 million for legal Greek platforms. Enforcement has also expanded into the digital discovery layer; in March 2026, the Hellenic Copyright Organization (HCO) successfully leveraged the Digital Services Act (DSA) to force Google to delist 17 pirate websites from search results for the first time.
Technically, this case demonstrates a trend toward targeting core infrastructure over superficial sites. Operation Kratos 2, a seven-month Europol-coordinated investigation that concluded in June 2026, similarly targeted back-end servers and payment routes across 13 countries to disable approximately 27,000 illegal streaming sources. As reported by Dexerto in June 2026, such operations are increasingly timed to protect major high-value media events, with the Kratos sweep finishing just days before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup to maximize the disruption of the illegal streaming ecosystem.
Read full article at en.protothema.gr
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