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Tag: Thop TV

  • Viacom18 takes criminal action against digital piracy

    Viacom18 takes criminal action against digital piracy

    Mumbai: Viacom18 Media is working with Maharashtra Cyber Crime Cell, Mumbai to fight against digital piracy and infringing usage of content.

    The Cyber Crime Cell arrested Subhanjan Kayet for his involvement in the pirated websites/platform named Thop TV. He was accused for the development of software, technical manipulation, illegal streaming and telecasting of the contents from Viacom18’s channels and its OTT platform Voot.

    On 23 May, Kayet was sentenced by Esplanade Court to five days of police custody after considering the severity of the offence and upon the request of the counsel appearing for the state.

    The Maharashtra Cyber Crime Cell has frozen his bank account in which he purportedly received the illegal proceeds of his unlawful activities. He was prolonging his arrest for the last few months after his bail applications were rejected by the courts in Kolkata and Mumbai.
    “Special anti-piracy unit MIPCU (Maharashtra Intellectual property Crime Unit) arrested accused Subhanjan Samiran Kayet from Gobardanaga Harbra, 24 Paragana, West Bengal on 22nd May 2022 as he appears to be the lead developer of the THOP TV app,” said Superintendent of Police Maharashtra Cyber Mumbai Sanjay Shintre. “We have sufficient evidence regarding this.”

    “We are thankful to Maharashtra Cyber for continuing this action against piracy,” said a spokesperson from Viacom18. “It is important to make the message clear that operating or abetting a business of infringement is a serious offence which affects the creative community at large. The perpetrators will be found and brought before law.”
    In the recent past, the efforts of Viacom18 together with Maharashtra Cyber Crime Cell had led to the arrest of the founder and CEO of Thop TV.

    “Viacom18 has always been at the forefront in addressing and curbing piracy of their content and channels,” said the statement. “Viacom18 and the TV18 network will continue to fight market threats associated with piracy and will protect their channel’s content using all legal methods available.”

  • Hyderabad-based IT engineer arrested for copyright violation of Viacom18’s content

    Hyderabad-based IT engineer arrested for copyright violation of Viacom18’s content

    New Delhi: Maharashtra Cyber Police has arrested a 28-year-old Hyderabad-based IT engineer for alleged copyright violation of Viacom18’ content using a standalone pirated application called Thop TV.

    According to police, the accused named Satish Venkateshwarlu was allegedly relaying and transmitting the network’s content without authorization at a discounted price through a mobile app called ‘Thop TV’, and thus causing a substantial revenue loss to the network.

    The accused was arrested under Sections 43, 66 and 66B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, Section 63 of Copyright Act, and Section 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was produced before the court which remanded him to six days of police custody for further investigations.

    The probe was initiated after Viacom18 filed an official complaint with Maharashtra Cyber against the “rogue, standalone” mobile application, which was relaying and transmitting their copyrighted content such as movies, TV shows and VOD content at a discounted rate, thus causing substantial revenue loss to the company.

    Superintendent of police, Sanjay Shintre said, “After the initial technical investigation, it was noticed that the accused, a highly educated IT engineer from Hyderabad developed a mobile application named ‘Thop TV’ and pirated Viacom18’s content through Telegram, a social media intermediary. The app has lakhs of viewers, including 5,000 paid subscribers, thereby generating massive revenue for the app.”

    Speaking on this development, a Viacom18 Spokesperson said, “Piracy is a matter of grave concern for the media industry and one that needs to be addressed constantly. It is important to acknowledge that digital piracy is a serious offence which causes huge losses to the digital economy. Viacom18 will continue to fight this menace and secure its content through all means available under law. We are grateful to the Office of the inspector general of police Maharashtra Cyber for their constant vigilance and timely support towards curbing piracy and copyright violation.”