We can all agree that the dawn of the Internet has brought with it a lot of things. It has transformed our society in ways we could have never imagined.
Thanks to the Internet, we have changed how we do business, how we interact with each other, and most importantly, how we consume content.
Online streaming is now the norm. It’s in fact seen by many in the industry as the future of television. Over the last few years, several online streaming platforms have emerged including IPTV.
While each of these platforms has something to offer, IPTV has stood out for the massive variety of channels available. It’s known for its ability to bypass geographical restrictions in sharing content. But we are starting to see IPTV users targeted by police.
Everything You Should Know
It’s not the first time IPTV has been targeted by law enforcement. These streaming platforms have been hit by cease and desist letters from copyright owners for years. It seems like they have managed to overcome all of these hurdles. However, in recent times, law enforcement has moved from targeting streaming services and started to target users.
For many years, the worst thing that law enforcement could do to an IPTV service provider was to seize the platform and block it.
If you have used several IPTV services for some time, you may have experienced a situation where you go to stream your favorite channels only to find a notification there saying “Seized by Police for Illegal Streaming” or something. As a user, this wasn’t a big deal. The only thing you needed to do was to find another channel and continue watching.
This was made easier by the fact that IPTV providers keep popping up literally every day. Even if law enforcement wanted to shut down the entire industry, they don’t have the manpower right now to target all IPTV platforms. Because of this shortcoming, the police seem to be going for the next easy option, and that’s to target users of IPTV within their jurisdiction.
In one incident that we saw circulating online, the police in Norfolk England sent out letters to IPTV users notifying them that the police are aware that they are using illegal streams in their households.
The letter goes on to warn that if the streams don’t stop, then legal action will be taken. This seems like the trend now and it’s possible that we will see more such cases in the coming months.
Why Are the Police Targeting Users of IPTV Services?
There are several reasons for this. However, one simple explanation is the fact that the police are now getting access to important user data when they seize IPTV service providers. After all, how do they know which households use illegal streaming services?
Every time a channel or IPTV platform is seized online, law enforcement will demand that all the data associated with that platform, including users, be shared. From that data, they can easily pinpoint the households using these illegal streams and where they are located.
It’s also possible that the police feels the idea of targeting users is far easier. Most users are just average Joes who just want to enjoy the best content online.
They don’t have the technical sophistication or manpower to fight these threats. It’s, therefore, likely that IPTV users targeted by police would be intimidated easily.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?
The most important thing right now for IPTV users is to maintain 100% privacy. The IPTV users targeted by police are sent letters via email.
The letter we saw in fact states clearly that the police has no intention in the immediate future to pursue any legal action against users. The letters they sent, according to them, are in no way proof of criminal culpability. In essence, the police are working on the behest of copyright owners to intimidate users from using IPTV services.
Additionally, as we have noted above, it’s impossible for the police to target and remove all IPTV services. Even when they send you a cease and desist letter, it’s only because they have managed to get some information about you from the IPTV channels that they have seized.
If indeed you stop getting streaming from the seized channels, it means that you have in fact complied with the demands of such letters. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t stream from other IPTV services. The most important thing here is to always make sure that this time round your personal information is kept as private as possible.
We expect IPTV users targeted by police to continue rising. But we just need to get smart about it. One way you can protect your personal info as you stream on IPTV is to use a VPN or Virtual Private Server. A VPN simply allows you to mask your location as you access IPTV streams online.
It ensures that you can use a pseudo name and a proxy server to keep your privacy intact. If for any reason the police seizes some of the channels you’ve been streaming, then you can be sure your personal information won’t be endangered.
While there are loads of VPN service providers out there, IPVanish is by far the most recommended for IPTV users targeted by police. It has a massive reputation for protecting user privacy and personal details for years. You’ll also enjoy the fact that the VPN service also has a stellar customer support and incredible reviews online.
Conclusion
We never thought we would see IPTV users targeted by police. For many years it all seemed so normal to stream content online.
But copyright owners and their big pockets are stepping up their assault against IPTV service providers in a big way.
Have you been personally targeted by the police for your IPTV streams? How can users protect themselves? What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments below!
