The Streaming Piracy Crisis Suppressant That Nobody Wants To Discuss
The most enduring questions in the online piracy debate loosely center on what causes it, who is to blame, who can be held liable for it, and what can be done to address it. Depending on variables including who asks and who answers, answers to these questions can differ quite wildly and are often subject to change. The one constant is that rightsholders’ answers ultimately carry more weight. They select targets for direct enforcement...
Proposal to Prevent LaLiga Site-Blocking Hurting Innocent Sites Rejected in Spain
After obtaining a court order that granted permission to block pirate streaming services, top-tier football league LaLiga faced a dilemma. Many of its targets were using Cloudflare’s reverse proxy service, which in basic terms allows a webhost’s IP address to remain private while one of Cloudflare’s IP address is exposed to site users. Since hundreds of sites can share the same Cloudflare IP address, blocking one pirate site would end...
UEFA Joins Anti-Piracy Coalition ACE to Protect Growing Revenues from Piracy Surge
European football association UEFA was founded in 1954 to protect the interests of European football, particularly within the global FIFA body. During the early years its powers were rather limited. UEFA was mostly an administrative union, consisting of three employees who issued non-binding recommendations to member associations. In 1955, less than a year after UEFA was formed, journalists of the French newspaper L’Équipe proposed...
MPA Targets ‘Zombie’ Pirate Brands Including Fmovies, Cuevana and Aniwave
In the past, rightsholders have frequently complained that takedown requests can be futile. Even if pirate sites take action, content can swiftly reappear. Taking down entire websites has always been the weapon of choice, but that doesn’t always solve the problem either. Pirate Site Operators On/Off the Radar When public pirate sites first became popular at the beginning of the century, many operated as central hubs. Their operators...
Cloudflare ‘Resists’ Piracy Blocks, U.S. Govt. Opposes EU Co-Op Obligations
During the past several years, sports rightsholders in Europe have made it clear that piracy of fleeting live events poses unique problems that require a strong response. Existing site blocking measures were seen as insufficient. Standard takedown notices reportedly lacked the necessary teeth to ensure compliance, something that could be addressed under revised EU law, rightsholders said.. In 2022, requests for European Commission...
Anti-Piracy Groundhog Day: Recycled Arguments Plague USTR’s Notorious Markets Review
Every year, the US Trade Representative (USTR) issues an updated overview of “Notorious Markets” that allegedly facilitate copyright infringement. This review is put together based on recommendations from copyright holders and other interested stakeholders. The ultimate goal of the annual report, which was first released in 2006, is to help combat piracy. The USTR’s report is meant to highlight economic harm and raise awareness....
