Telecoms Group Wants to DDoS IPTV Pirates Off The Internet

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https://torrentfreak.com/telecoms-group-wants-to-ddos-iptv-pirates-off-the-internet-220914/

In most regions of the world, the problem of IPTV piracy isn't going away, despite attempts to take illegal services down using enforcement agencies and ISP blocking. In Hungary a new anti-piracy option has been placed on the table - cyberattacks against IPTV pirates. What could possibly go wrong?

Like most online services, pirate IPTV platforms use regular domains, IP addresses, websites, servers, and cloud services. But unlike most regular online platforms, they already know that rightsholders are watching their every move. This means that they are mostly prepared for domain seizures and similar interference, IP address and DNS blocking, attempts to cut off payment processing, plus any other measures from the smorgasbord currently available. No doubt that this is a major irritant for rightsholders attempting to shut them down. But what if there was another way, one that didn’t rely on the success of any of the above but is considered a crime?

According to a statement sent to Hungary’s Media1, the Hungarian Communications Association says it is initiating a round table discussion with domestic stakeholders, including legislators, copyright holders, neighboring rights holders, Internet service providers, and broadcasters. The aim is to discover whether it’s possible to launch DDoS attacks against IPTV providers while enjoying protection under the law. The premise is as follows:

“For the sake of legal validity and international transparency, RIPE, at the initiative of the Hungarian communications authority, should designate a certain IPv4/IPv6 address range for the use of legal and registered DDOS attacks and make it publicly available,” the proposal reads. “The authority should appoint a suitable professional organization, which would be entitled – subject to the necessary level of official supervision and control – after a preliminary expert investigation based on a stakeholder report, with the appropriate legal authorization, against the detected illegal service IP addresses launched from the authorized DDoS address range for a legitimate DDoS attack.”

If the mere suggestion of launching cyberattacks isn’t enough to sound alarm bells, another major red flag is that the potential for collateral damage has not only been considered, but may even be part of the strategy. For example, disruption of innocent third-party services isn’t seen as a problem since the ensuing chaos would send a message to hosting companies to pick better customers in the future.

Telecoms Group Wants to DDoS IPTV Pirates Off The Internet * TorrentFreak

A frustrated telecommunications association in Hungary says it wants to launch cyberattacks to prevent IPTV pirates from doing business.

torrentfreak.com