Mapleton, Utah’s city council unknowingly approved an illegal IPTV scheme for its residents and business owners to use during a regular meeting.
This all went down a year ago, but TorrentFreak just uncovered the agenda from a council meeting on January 4, 2023 listing “Consideration of a Resolution for Xtreme High-Definition IPTV streaming subscription for residential and business [customers] in Mapleton City.”
TorrentFreak pointed out that Xtreme High-Definition IPTV is better known as Xtreme HD IPTV, a pirate IPTV reselling service that sells channels, movies, and TV shows.
The council’s approval of the illegal service was likely a mistake but demonstrates the steps cybercriminals take to make their illegal operations appear upstanding and less likely to be detected by law enforcement.
The council later met on March 15, 2023 to approve the use of the service. The meeting was live streamed on YouTube and the presentation about the pirated service starts around the 32-minute mark.
During his testimony, Mapleton City Network Director Matt Hancock said his investigation into the service with the local government’s legal counsel didn’t “find anything negative” about the service. Hancock went on to say the team’s research didn’t turn up other municipalities using the system.
At this time, it’s unclear whether Mapleton rolled out the service to the community.
Illegal IPTV services seem like an impossible problem to fully eradicate due to the ever-evolving technology and sly operator tactics. The problem is further inflamed by pricey cable packages and a sea of streaming services on the market today. It’s no longer financially feasible for most households to watch everything they want, leading more viewers to turn to illegal services.
The Mapleton City Council wasn’t immediately available for comment.
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