Supported by pirate IPTV platforms, this phenomenon allows millions of users to access matches for a price that varies between 60 and 120 euros per year. Much cheaper than via official platforms.
For official broadcasters like Canal + or beIN (which acquired part of the Ligue 1 rights for this season), this practice therefore represents a colossal loss of income. The Anti-Audiovisual Piracy Alliance (AAPA) therefore wants to raise its voice and calls on European leaders to act.
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The organization, which brings together several major European football leagues and other broadcasters, has just published a manifesto addressed to decision-makers in the European Union. The message is clear: we must act, and quickly. For Miruna Herovanu, executive director of AAPA, the time for discussions is over. She calls for concrete measures “After years of groundwork to tackle online piracy, it is time for policymakers in the EU and beyond to fully recognize that decisive and targeted action is needed. The rise of digital theft demands immediate action.”
More than 3 billion losses
This “digital theft” as the AAPA describes it, affects the integrity of broadcasting rights to sporting events and directly hits the revenues of official broadcasters. “In 2021, pay TV operators suffered losses amounting to €3.21 billion due to piracy, with illegal operators’ gains estimated at €1 billion in the same year“, the document states.
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Today, legal tools exist, but they are considered insufficient by rights holders. Indeed, Internet service providers can be forced by the courts to block access to illegal streaming sites. But for the AAPA, this framework must be extended. The organization wants to include more actors in the fight against piracy.
Targeted VPN providers
The manifesto notably proposes the application of an Info Soc directive from the European Union. This allows injunctions to be issued against any entity facilitating the violation of intellectual property rights. This includes intermediaries like search engines, payment services, domain registrars, but also more unexpected players like VPN providers.
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VPNs are also often used to bypass blocks imposed by internet providers. These tools, basically legal, allow users to access pirate streaming sites without being detected, which infuriates broadcasters and rights holders. This is why AAPA is calling for a targeted crackdown on these services, which it says indirectly facilitate piracy.
This position comes at a time when Italy has just passed a law forcing VPNs to block access to illegal content. A trend which could extend to other European countries, if the AAPA’s proposals are taken into account by the European Union.
