How illegal streaming apps could land you in jail, your info on dark web

Raided by police for watching a film or a TV show? This is true, people might get raided for watching content on illegal platforms. Some IPTV apps and set-top boxes give access illegally to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu. Not just legal action, the use of these apps and devices might also lead to monitoring of users by pirates. Although these apps are a little easy on the pockets, they can lead to data breaches, viruses and malware. Even getting raided by the police for participating in illegal activities.

These pirates operate on the dark web and the customers paying for these illegal activities are contributing to such piracy-related activities in the US and Canada, even in some countries in Europe.

“These pirates steal content from content owners, causing significant financial losses and job impacts across the media and entertainment industry,” Manjusha of YuppTV tells India Today Digital. Manjusha is the Vice President (Content Acquisition and Strategic Partnerships) at YuppTV.

CREDIT CARDS DETAILS TAKEN, OTHER SENSITIVE INFORMATION TOO

The monitors can also be traced, and all personal information, including credit card details, can be accessed by pirates. The information can also be captured by them and might be sold on the dark web.

“The funds generated from piracy serve illegitimate purposes such as drugs, terrorism, and human trafficking. Through the consumption of pirated IPTV content, customers are indirectly contributing to these illegal activities by providing financial support to the pirates,” a statement by YuppTV adds.

The illegal pirates in the international markets include Chitram TV, BOSS IPTV, Tashan IPTV, Real TV, JadooTV, World Max TV, Maxx TV, VBox, Vois IPTV, Punjabi IPTV, and Indian IPTV.

“The set-top boxes are brought through apps or stores and have pirated content,” Manjusha from YuppTV told India Today Digital.

However, people using them might end up paying dearly.

LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR USING THESE STREAMING SERVICES

These boxes have spread across the US and Canada.

“Our research tells us that there are over 300,000 set-top boxes with access to these illegal streaming services,” Manjusha tells India Today Digital.

But the users might face legal consequences.

The users using these illegal platforms might also have to face legal consequences such as summons from the court. As a penalty, subscribers might also have to pay fines for every content they watch through such pirate services.

“There is news circulating about numerous raids on a major pirate, and customers who have been watching content through this illegal source might face subpoenas from the court. Major content partners are experiencing substantial losses due to IP infringement, and this is considered a serious criminal offence by courts,” YuppTV statement adds.

“Recent incidents in the UK and the passing of laws in France on May 15th are consequences customers had to bear for accessing pirated content,” it adds.

The platform “Piracy Shield” came into existence as a result of anti-piracy laws. It blocks all kinds of illegal streaming of content. It blocks IPTV content and all its DNS and VPN services used to dodge rules.

Pirates download content illegally without authorization, which affects the streaming platform owners. These lead to intellectual property theft resulting in a loss of revenue.

LOSS OF MONEY TO DISTRIBUTORS, BROADCASTERS, ACTORS AND CONTENT CREATORS

This leads to losses as well as a large sum of money is invested in creating content, which is distributed through legal channels at a price.

“However, piracy causes substantial revenue losses that impact the entire ecosystem, including content-selling platforms, broadcasters, content creators, actors, artists, and the entire production crew. Creating this content involves significant investments and efforts, and when piracy occurs, it involves illegal theft that leads to job losses and substantial financial losses for companies and the industry as a whole,” according to the YuppTV statement.

“Piracy leads to direct financial losses for content creators and distributors,” it adds.

This can also bring losses for broadcasters, who pay for rights to air the content and suffer a loss in subscription. In turn, it could also result in loss of revenue for artists and actors.

This might also be a matter of concern for governments across the world.

“Governments, whether in India, the US, Canada, or any other country, are losing out on revenues due to tax evasion by both pirates and customers. India in this case is losing out on huge export revenues,” according to the YuppTV statement.