Italian authorities shut down major streaming piracy network
Key takeaways
- The Cinemagoal app retransmitted content from major platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
- Endyk/Getty Images Cinemagoal, the app known for illegally rebroadcasting streaming content from Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and more, is the latest pirate ship to sink.
- The Italian authority said the app ran 24 hours a day, retransmitting access codes from legitimate subscriptions to fake accounts that streamed media to Cinemagoal subscribers.
The Cinemagoal app retransmitted content from major platforms like Netflix and Disney+.
Endyk/Getty Images Cinemagoal, the app known for illegally rebroadcasting streaming content from Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and more, is the latest pirate ship to sink. The Guardia di Finanza, an Italian law enforcement agency under the country's Ministry of Economy and Finance, announced that it conducted more than 100 search and seizures across the country related to the Cinemagoal app.
The Italian authority said the app ran 24 hours a day, retransmitting access codes from legitimate subscriptions to fake accounts that streamed media to Cinemagoal subscribers. According to the Guardia di Finanza, the app's design was smart enough to get around a platform's security checks and didn't require a connection to a user's IP address, making it harder to track. Cinemagoal subscriptions went for 40 to 130 euros, between $46 to $151, a year and were paid through hard-to-trace methods, like cryptocurrency or fake foreign bank accounts, the Italian agency said.