Illegal broadcasting websites have existed for nearly a decade
After nearly 10 years of operating on the Internet, the Xoi Lac TV system illegally broadcasting sports and football tournaments... has been dismantled by functional agencies.
However, the investigation process showed that this is not just a simple illegal broadcasting website but a whole ecosystem, a network operating in a similar model to a technology business, with many technical, financial and content links organized methodically.
According to information from the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05 - Ministry of Public Security), this system began to form in 2016 and gradually expanded into a network of many websites illegally broadcasting international sports tournaments.
To date, the Investigation Police Agency of Hung Yen Provincial Police has initiated a case and prosecuted more than 30 defendants for the crimes of infringing copyright and related rights; organizing gambling; gambling and disseminating depraved cultural products.
Among the defendants, there are two people identified as masterminds, P.N. D (born in 1979, Hanoi) and N.C.D (born in 1993, Hanoi). Functional forces also arrested about 20 commentators operating on the system with nicknames such as "Batman", "Batman", "Strawman" or "Anh Tho".
According to the investigating agency, the operation of this system is assigned quite clearly.
One group is in charge of managing and operating websites, the technical group is responsible for processing broadcast signals, while commentators comment directly on matches to create a feeling like a mainstream television program.
The commentary rooms are equipped with microphones, match viewing screens and soundproof walls similar to professional studios.
It is noteworthy that members of the system do not fully know each other. Personnel are recruited individually by department, many people only communicate online and use nicknames.
This system also recruits young personnel with university degrees, even master's degrees, who understand technology to operate the platform.
Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Hieu - Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department of Hung Yen Provincial Police said: "The investigating police agency spent nearly 1 year investigating and cracking down on the case. These subjects are all anonymous, their names are not real names. 'Batman', 'Street Man', 'Fish Man', 'Wolf Man'... all are not real names. Up to this point, there are more than 20 commentators out of a total of more than 30 defendants prosecuted".
Complex technical network
One of the reasons why this system has existed for so long is that the technical structure is designed in a distributed direction.
Colonel Nguyen Huy Luc - Head of Department 5, Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention said: "Xoi Lac TV is the common name for many links and links named Xoi Lac. Regarding prevention, deployment of prevention and control, we identify many links originating from neighboring countries.
With links abroad, we have a solution to neutralize operations. The methods and tricks of this criminal group are very sophisticated, changing locations and server systems continuously, leading to the tracing of the ringleader, which requires time. Currently, all subjects have been identified and arrested.
According to the investigation, the ringleaders used specialized equipment to collect signals from copyrighted television platforms or from satellite sources, then transmit them back via the Internet through an intermediate server system. Viewers can watch many major European football tournaments as well as international tournaments for free.
Placing technical infrastructure outside Vietnam's territory makes the traceability process more complicated, because data related to servers, domain names and cash flow must be verified through many countries.
Profitable ecosystem behind
Besides technical factors, the reason for Xoi Lac TV's long-term existence also lies in the money-making ecosystem behind this illegal broadcasting system.
Websites belonging to the Xoi Lac TV network often insert advertisements and navigation links to online football betting platforms. This is considered the main source of revenue for the system.
A fairly common operating mechanism is that viewers access the website to watch the match for free, then are led to paid betting or advertising sites. Large traffic during football matches helps the system generate significant revenue.
Initial investigation results show that the group's illegal revenue amounted to hundreds of billions of VND. Functional forces tracked down and seized about 300 billion VND of assets, most of which were cryptocurrency and digital assets.
Notably, the masterminds also established a number of media, software and labor export companies to act as a cover for operations. Personnel are divided into many groups such as technical, financial, content editing and logistics.
According to the sharing of a subject (known as the commentator "Anh Tho - Nguoi Tho"), the remuneration received for each commentary match is about 300,000 VND, on average performing 25-30 matches per month.
According to the assessment of functional agencies, the cash flow from advertising and betting has created motivation for this system to maintain operations for a long time, regardless of legal risks.
The crackdown on the Xoi Lac TV network is therefore not only handling a pirated broadcasting website, but also peeping off the entire ecosystem of making money based on copyright infringement and directing users to online gambling platforms.
Functional agencies said that the investigation process is still ongoing to clarify the entire cash flow and the organizations behind it. At the same time, technical and professional measures will also be implemented to prevent similar illegal broadcasting systems on the Internet environment.
