Premier League To Crack Down On Illegal Streaming
The Premier League in England has vowed to crackdown harder on illegal streaming, during preparation for a multibillion dollar auction for television rights, after strengthening its legal team, and combatting pirates through private prosecutions.
General Counsel for Premier League, Kevin Plumb noted the growth of online piracy has forced the League to adapt, build an internal team of lawyers, investigators, and ” content protection analysts” to remove illegal content, punishing those providing it.
“We don’t underestimate them. They’re really sophisticated now. There is always a challenge with finding people online.”
This fight is especially important for the League in protecting value of media rights, the main revenue generator for clubs, and the lifeblood of the comp. Currently, the League is preparing to hold an auction for UK rights, previously sold for £5 billion over three years.
In February, there was an estimated 3.9 million illegal watchers of live sport, and in a separate survey conducted, it was reported over 40% who watch illegally, noted it as their primary motivation. In order to watch all games, the viewer would need access to TNT Sports, Sky Sports, and Amazon’s Prime Video, which cost approximately £70 ($137 AUD) a month.
It was noted in July, Sky won a High Court order, forcing internet service providers to block pirates, bearing similarities to the Premier League’s “Super Block,” helping the competition remove over 600,000 illegal live stream during the previous season.
Plumb continued to say the “Super Block,” along with private prosecutions are assisting will fighting against illegal streams, and recently announced prison sentences are another barrier.
Fans still however, use free websites relying on advertisements to watch the League matches illegally. Pirates are now using hijacked smart TVs or “sticks,” collecting subscription fees.
“When I first started doing this, our top line priority would have been pubs,” Plumb continued. “There’s a little bit of that now but . . . piracy has evolved from peer-to-peer streaming to closed network subscriptions.”
“You went from the pub to the teenagers in their bedrooms to families watching in their living room, and that then becomes a real priority for us.”
This comes following the sentencing of five men for over 30 years in prison, for running illegal streaming networks. The operations had over 50,000 customers/resellers, and garnered over £7 million in five years.
The League claimed it’s “the world’s largest-ever prosecution of an illegal streaming network”.
“Would you want to carry on this sort of business if you’re going to get 10 or 11 years in jail?” said Plumb.