Italy is cracking down on users of illegal streaming sites: the communications regulatory authority has announced that fines will be levied in the coming weeks.
Up to 5,000 euros (5,500 dollars) in fines for watching a Champions League match: AgCom, the Italian communications regulatory authority, has set its sights on Italian fans.
Massimiliano Capitanio, director of AgComm, announced on LinkedIn this Monday the forthcoming issuance of fines ranging from 150 to 5,000 euros to viewers of pirated football matches. “The best way to combat piracy is to fight against both criminal and legal (!) associations that conduct business by stealing intellectual property and the rights of others,” he explains.
Among the recipients of these fines, which AgCom says it will be sending out shortly, are users of apps available on Android, iOS, or Amazon, as well as users of streaming sites accessible from conventional search engines “because the latter don’t always cooperate as they should,” adds Capitanio.
New controls have been implemented in Italy since the introduction of Piracy Shield on February 1st: a software capable of detecting and blocking pirate sites. The following day, 65 domain name systems (DNS) and eight IP addresses “that were illegally broadcasting matches of the 23rd round of the Serie A football championship” were blocked within thirty minutes, explains AgCom in a statement.
Spain backpedals
Massimiliano Capitanio cites the example of Spain, which “like Italy, has chosen to rigorously combat the phenomenon of illegal broadcasting of sports events,” calling for a common European front.
Bad luck for the director of AgCom: Spain, which had made similar announcements… has reversed course. The High Court of Justice of Catalonia clarified this Monday that those who illegally watch football matches via applications or pirate sites will not be prosecuted, clarifying a “misunderstanding” generated by an order from the Commercial Court of Barcelona, published two weeks earlier, which required Spanish internet operators to provide data of all users who connect to pirate football sites to the relevant La Liga authorities.
The High Court clarified that La Liga will exclusively claim data of those who illegally share its content. In other words, anyone who legitimately buys football, but then distributes it illegally via unauthorized online platforms.
In France, 5.1% of the population uses illegal IPTV boxes to watch movies, series, or football matches, “a European record,” according to a report from the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA), published in December 2022. Available freely, these boxes allow access to thousands of contents for the modest sum of 35 euros per year.
Far from sufficient measures
A 2021 law aimed at combatting piracy of sports broadcasts permits blocking services that illegally transmit sports competitions, upon referral by rights holders to Arcom, the audiovisual and digital communication regulatory authority. However, this measure proves inadequate in effectively curbing the phenomenon, as illicit sites and streams are constantly being renewed, taking advantage of the ease of access offered by search engines and social networks.
But while providers of these services are often arrested and convicted, users are rarely apprehended. The question remains whether Italian users will find fines in their mailboxes in the ensuing weeks…
