Media holdings 1+1 media, StarLightMedia, and Media Group Ukraine filed applications for crimes under Part 3 of Article 176 (violation of copyright and related rights) and Part 2 of Article 361 (unauthorized interference in the telecommunications network) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, to the Department of Cybercrime Prevention in the Mykolaiv Region. This was reported by the press service of 1+1 media.
As part of the criminal proceedings, a search was conducted in two cities, Odessa and Mykolaiv, and all persons involved in the violation were identified, who turned out to be residents of the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions. In the premises of the defendants, law enforcement officers seized mobile phones, bank cards, and computer equipment, which was used to administer a pirate online portal for selling set-top boxes. The seized equipment was sent to the expert center for a number of examinations, and as a result, suspicions of intellectual property theft should be announced.
“The existence of a creative economy is possible only if copyright is respected, and the fight against piracy is an integral part of its construction. One of our tasks is to make the very fact of piracy an exception to the rule, not the other way around. For us, every investigation is not only a step towards stopping content theft, but also helping our partners in market development. Separately, I would like to thank the investigator of the department for the effective investigation and the cyberpolice for accompanying this production,” – says Mykola Faenghold, Director of the PayTV & Digital Division of StarLightMedia.
“I would like to note the prompt and professional work of the cyberpolice, as well as the coordinated communication in combating cybercrime with StarLightMedia and Media Group Ukraine. The protection of intellectual property, namely the products of the media holding, remains a priority task for 1+1 media and requires our attention and cooperation with law enforcement agencies to reduce the level of such violations in the future. At the moment, we are awaiting the results of the examinations of the seized equipment and the court decision on the case,” – notes Vyacheslav Miyenko, Director of the GR Group of 1+1 media.
“The fight against piracy in all its manifestations is a priority task of Media Group Ukraine. It is gratifying that in this direction we are acting as a united front with all other media groups. This case is a direct confirmation of this fact. Thanks to our joint efforts, the Ukrainian media market is increasingly transforming towards legal and honest business principles every year. I would like to separately note the work of the cyberpolice unit in the Mykolaiv region and thank the leadership of the cyberpolice of Ukraine for their support and long-standing close cooperation in detecting, documenting, and preventing violations of Media Group Ukraine's intellectual property rights,” – says Anton Yatsyk, Director of the Department of Financial and Economic and Information Security of Media Group Ukraine.
Recall that in January 2020, the media groups 1+1 media and StarLightMedia for the first time in Ukraine initiated the prosecution of one of the Internet providers in the Odessa region for a serious crime in the case of illegally providing its subscribers with IPTV television services without entering into licensing agreements with copyright holders. In the period 2018-2019, the provider rebroadcast the TV channels 1+1, 2+2, TET, Bigudi, UNIAN, PLUSPLUS, STB, Novy Kanal, ICTV, OCE, M1, and M2 with the aim of obtaining illegal income.