Arcom, the Association for the Protection of Sports Programs (APPS) and the French Federation of Telecoms (FFTélécoms) have reached an agreement to intensify the fight against sports piracy in France.
The Authority is also pleased, after a year of negotiations, to have reached this result, in particular facilitating the blocking of pirate sites by the four main Internet service providers (ISPs) in France.
A new agreement seals the protection of sports broadcasts
On January 18, 2023, Arcom announced that APPS, FFTélécoms and the Iliad group (Free) will fight together against the illegal broadcasting of sporting events via the internet in France. The goal is to go even further than the legal framework available under article L333-10 of the Sports Code. Already satisfied with the legislative process initiated in 2022, it is now also a question of facilitating collaboration with the four main internet access providers, Bouygues Télécom, Free, Orange and SFR.
What does this agreement provide? Specifically, the goal is to strengthen and accelerate the measures taken to protect sporting events, […] good practices in legal matters but also on the assumption of the costs of the automation of the blocking measures notified by Arcom on referral of the beneficiaries “. The case of the last edition of the Football World Cup is a concrete example of a major sporting event requiring increased vigilance.
In fact, the shortfall for structures broadcasting such competitions (BeIN Sports and TF1 here) and the redistribution of earnings from these tournaments also motivate Arcom to increase the facilities for ISPs to block pirate sites.
IPTV and other VPNs in the viewfinder
Maxima Saada, President of APPS and Managing Director of the Canal+ group, adds that such an agreement must also ” to accelerate and consolidate the fight against sports piracy, while leaving the possibility of adapting it to new illegal access methods such as IPTV offers. Collectively, we will thus be able to better target the illicit services which attack the pillar of the financing of sport which are audiovisual rights. “.
If Arcom is pleased to have received 85 referrals relating to sports piracy in 2022, blocked 1,299 pirate sites and 787 domain names of mirror sites, it wants to remain vigilant. The illegal audience relating to sport fell by 49% in the first half of 2022 alone, but the Autorité is aware of the resilience of its adversaries at the moment.
Liza Bellulo, President of FFTélécoms and General Secretary of Bouygues Télécom, calls for ” the conclusion of new agreements by new players such as hosts or search engines in order to concretize the implementation of this “safety net” throughout the chain of the digital ecosystem “. A path that Google could well follow.
Source : ARCOM press release
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