BREIN Releases Annual Piracy Report: IPTV is ‘Top Piracy Threat’

The Dutch anti-piracy organization BREIN recently published its comprehensive 2024 annual report, highlighting achievements and emerging piracy threats.

The report reveals how the organization adapted to new leadership while maintaining aggressive action against copyright infringement. IPTV was considered the ‘top piracy threat.’

BREIN represents around thirty industry organizations and thousands of creators across music, films, series, books, and games.

Record-Breaking Enforcement Numbers

BREIN’s 2024 enforcement efforts produced impressive statistics. The organization completed 339 cases, including 179 extensive investigations that led to websites being taken offline or settlements with infringers.

The group successfully shut down 155 illegal sites, services, and platforms. This included popular names like IPTVPremium.

They also blocked 525 unique domains and completely removed IPTV listings from Google search results. Additionally, BREIN stopped 160 proxies and mirrors of blocked websites.

The organization reached 40 settlements, including seven “knock & talks” – direct confrontations with suspected pirates at their homes or businesses.

IPTV Emerges as Primary Target

BREIN identified IPTV as the audiovisual industry’s biggest threat in 2024. The Dutch fiscal police officially designated IPTV as a phenomenon requiring special attention, resulting in higher priority and increased budget for combating illegal services.

This focus delivered concrete results. BREIN stopped 46 illegal IPTV traders and removed 14 IPTV advertisements from Google.

The organization also made criminal referrals that are expected to result in arrests during 2025, though details remain confidential due to ongoing investigations.

The group signed agreements with the Beverwijk Bazaar marketplace to crack down on IPTV sales.

Under this arrangement, vendors receive warnings, then fines, and face lease termination for repeated violations. Two tenants lost their leases in 2024 based on these agreements.

Google Cooperation Expands

Google’s voluntary cooperation marked a major development in anti-piracy efforts. The search giant removed 525 domains from search results and deleted 166,945 individual search results at BREIN’s request.

Most significantly, Google updated its advertising policy to ban ads for the search term “IPTV” that they were once profiting from. This policy change led to fewer IPTV advertisements appearing on the platform, according to BREIN’s report.

Full List of Enforcement Data

Below is the complete list of enforcement data noted in BREIN’s 2024 Annual Report:

• 339 files completed
• 179 investigations completed
• 155 illegal sites/services/platforms stopped
• 11 platforms, 9 IP addresses and 525 unique domains dynamically blocked at DNS level
• 525 illegal websites completely removed from search results by Google
• 160 proxies/mirrors stopped
• 46 illegal traders IPTV/VOD subscriptions stopped
• 14 IPTV ads removed by Google
• 47 streaming sites taken offline
• 3 major uploaders, administrators and/or scripters investigated and stopped
• 166,945 Google search results removed
• 3,677 interventions involving removal of online ads for illegal copies
• 40 settlements, including 7 ‘knock & talks’
• 3 judicial ex parte orders obtained
• 10 online cases involving physical media were handled
• 14 checks conducted at record fairs
• 16 .nl and 7 .eu domain names taken offline

Final Thoughts

While BREIN’s 2024 achievements demonstrate increased anti-piracy enforcement effectiveness, the core problem persists. Each shutdown creates opportunities for multiple new piracy operations to emerge.

Rather than focusing solely on enforcement and blocking measures, the entertainment industry might benefit from addressing the root cause – making legitimate content more affordable and accessible to average households.

Until streaming costs become reasonable for most consumers, alternative sources will continue appearing regardless of legal risks or enforcement efforts.

For more information on this story, refer to the official BREIN 2024 Annual Report (PDF) or their press release.

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