IPTV CinemaGoal: Italian police target subscribers ahead of the FIFA World Cup

An operation described by police as “unprecedented”.

Ravenna’s financial police (GdF) have carried out a major 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, launched following social-media monitoring, uncovered the existence of an innovative technology for the first time. According to investigators, it provided higher viewing quality while remaining difficult to detect.”

Italian police step up action against IPTV

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.

The news is less encouraging for users: many subscribers are reportedly at risk. The first 1,000 identified customers will receive fines ranging from €154 to €5,000 under Italian law. The GdF says several thousand people are in its sights.

CinemaGoal IPTV’s alleged technical method

The most intriguing part of the announcement concerns the technique used. Authorities describe it as highly innovative, stating that “every three minutes, virtual machines captured the ‘original’ codes of legitimate subscriptions and relayed them immediately, 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 are said to have the application’s source code, they may disclose further details in future, helping to clarify the matter.

A warning ahead of the FIFA World Cup

In any event, these latest developments send a clear message. With the FIFA 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 particularly alarming for users: France alone is estimated to have several million IPTV subscriptions in circulation.

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