Do you use an IPTV service to illegally get access to live TV networks like ESPN, Disney Channel, and more for a fraction of the cost of legal services? You may want to reconsider using your credit card on many of these services, according to a new report by Digital Citizens Alliance. In this report obtained by TorrentFreak, they found that some IPTV services stole the credit card info of their subscribers and used it to make illegal purchases.
So what are IPTV services? In short, an IPTV service is an illegal live TV streaming service promising to give you all the big networks like ESPN but for a fraction of the cost of legal services. Many of these services promise hundreds of channels for a fraction of the cost of a service like Fubo or YouTube TV to name a few.
According to the report, investigators used a credit card to signup for 20 IPTV services. Within a few weeks, charges started showing up from China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Lithuania. In total, $1,495 in illegal purchases were reported in just a few weeks.
The impact of piracy has been debated for some time. Now the United State Chamber of Commerce, an independent group, claims that video piracy from services like IPTV companies causes $115.3 billion in damages to the GDP and 560,000 lot jobs every year. This comes from a report over at TorrentFreak.
If you have used your credit card to pay for pirate IPTV services, you should watch that card very closely.
The Digital Citizens Alliance is pushing for the federal government to crack down on IPTV services. They also hope new efforts will be made to block IPTV services from being able to accept credit cards. In the end they would like to see more criminal charges against these IPTV providers.
For years those who used IPTV services and sold them did so without any real fear of legal action. The few IPTV services that faced any trouble in the US mostly faced civil lawsuits. Overseas the news was different as a growing number of IPTV sellers faced jail time. That all changed back in 2020 as the US passed a law to make running piracy services a criminal activity. Already multiple IPTV owners have been charged, and the hope is more will be soon.