Spanish authorities have dismantled Cristal Azul, a prominent Kodi add-on with approximately 78,000 users. While football leagues and broadcasters estimate piracy losses of €42 million, the closure is raising alarm in piracy circles, particularly regarding Telegram’s new stance. As some groups retreat from the platform, Telegram’s warning about cooperating with legal authorities has sent shockwaves through the community.
Operation Blue Corsair: Targeting Piracy at the Source
Spain’s Ministry of the Interior announced Operation Blue Corsair (Operación Corsario Azul), spearheaded by the Guardia Civil’s Technological Investigation Team (EDITE). Their target: a Kodi add-on providing free streams of Spanish first- and second-division football matches.
Investigators traced the illegal streams to a source hosted on a widely used instant messaging platform—later identified as Telegram. By analyzing the add-on’s source code and its pseudonymous developer, authorities linked the operation to a 37-year-old suspect. He is now facing charges of fraud and intellectual property crimes, with financial damages pegged precisely at €42,547,104.
Beyond identifying the perpetrator, authorities shut down the add-on’s Telegram channels and reportedly deleted its programming code. Whether this “elimination” means mere takedown notices or more significant action remains unclear, but the move has left pirates scrambling.
LaLiga and Movistar: The Complainants Behind the Crackdown
The operation was launched after a joint complaint by LaLiga, Spain’s top-tier football league, and broadcasting giant Movistar. Both entities have been vocal against piracy, emphasizing the financial impact on sports and broadcasting rights.
Cristal Azul, the add-on at the center of this crackdown, was well-known among Spanish-speaking Kodi users. Its presence on GitHub allowed easy access to its repository, though the latest updates were hosted elsewhere. Following police intervention, the add-on’s maintainers announced its closure in early October 2024, signaling that ongoing legal pressures had made operations unsustainable.
Piracy Ecosystem in Retreat
The ripple effects of Cristal Azul’s shutdown have been dramatic. The Luar repository, which hosted Cristal Azul’s software, also ceased operations shortly after, leaving a message of farewell: “See you soon.” Other piracy repositories, such as TVChopo and Kodivertido, have similarly scaled back operations, while prominent add-on Palantir implemented security measures, reflecting growing unease in the piracy world.
Telegram’s Role and Policy Shift
While the Cristal Azul investigation focused on Telegram as a distribution channel, the platform’s broader stance on piracy has gained attention, following the August 2024 arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France, the company pledged to intensify its fight against abuse on its platform, including piracy.
Telegram now warns that IP addresses and phone numbers of users involved in piracy may be disclosed to law enforcement when legally required. This represents a stark departure from its previous image as a secure haven, leaving piracy communities on edge.
A Wake-Up Call for Piracy Groups
Telegram’s revised privacy policy, which applies globally, is already impacting channel operators accused of facilitating copyright infringement. For many who previously viewed the platform as a safe space, this serves as a clear signal to reconsider their activities.
For rightsholders like LaLiga, the developments are a step forward in combating piracy, but the battle is far from over. As add-ons like Cristal Azul disappear, users and developers may scatter to new platforms or methods, perpetuating the cat-and-mouse game between pirates and authorities. However, Telegram’s shift may force these groups to think twice about where—and how—they operate in the future.