March 25, 2024
Reading time • 5 min
Brazil records first prison sentence for audiovisual content piracy
Brazil has recorded the first criminal conviction in the country’s history involving piracy of audiovisual content. The case took place in the 5th Criminal Court of Campinas, in São Paulo.
The defendant in question was not named and was sentenced to five years, four months and 17 days in prison. The crimes do not involve the consumption of pirated materials, but the transmission of content via IPTV and the illegal sale of these services.
The complaint was filed by the Alliance Against Pay-TV Piracy (Alizana). The defendant had electronic devices that gave him access to the administration panel of an illegal IPTV service. He had a total of more than 20,000 registered customers and an accumulated turnover of more than BRL 4 million in one year.
The group resold packages of pay-TV channels for BRL 20 to BRL 200 a month, depending on the amount of content unlocked. The conviction took into account the Brazilian Penal Code, specifically when dealing with copyright violations and crimes against consumer relations.
Conviction is an offshoot of Operation 404
The process that led to the trial began with the second phase of Operation 404, carried out in 2020.
Still ongoing, it aims to dismantle criminal organizations that sell pirated signals or illegal TV box devices. This equipment is used to broadcast streaming platforms or subscription channels without authorization.
The conviction now represents a precedent that could speed up the trial of other similar cases. In 2023 alone, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) took down almost 4,000 pirate TV box servers.
Operation 404 began in November 2019 and continues today, with six different phases. The police actions are coordinated by Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Civil Police, and also include agents from the United Kingdom, Peru, the United States and Argentina.
