It's no secret that DAZN is struggling to convince Ligue 1 fans to subscribe. A Senate commission of inquiry has expressed the wish to introduce a piracy offense to put an end to illegal streaming of meetings.
It is a phenomenon that has continued to spread for several seasons in Europe. Faced with the refusal to subscribe to DAZN which offers a price considered too high to access the broadcast of Ligue 1 this season, more and more French people are resorting to IPTV or illegal streaming to watch the matches. According to a report published by a Senate commission of inquiry in recent hours which is based on figures from ARCOM in April, 35% of French people use a VPN or alternative DNS instead of taking advantage of the product via the broadcaster, according to an ARCOM report. A practice which does not remain without consequences for the finances of French football, since in the long term this method is a real threat for the economy of the French championship, which has already experienced a TV rights crisis this summer with the identity of the broadcaster for the next five seasons which was only revealed two weeks before the resumption of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.
The Senate recommends a solution against IPTV
The Senate commission of inquiry wishes to fight against IPTV and wants to establish a piracy offense, which would then recognize the illegal nature of the consumption of sporting events via IPTV, like what is already in place. place in the Intellectual Property Code on copyright. Concretely, the consumer will not be penalized, unlike the illegal broadcaster of sports content. Two other measures were mentioned in the Senate, namely the possibility of blocking illegal streams in real time and the incentive for alternative VPN and DNS providers to block illegal streaming voluntarily. Even in the highest French political spheres, we are starting to take action to try to fight effectively against a scourge which is dangerous, in the medium term, for the financial health of the championship teams and the LFP, in the the sights of justice since the opening of an investigation into the deal made with the Luxembourg investment fund CVC in recent hours.
