Blocking of 128 Pirate Websites Illegally Streaming Football Matches

By Espinosa Bellido Abogados

The Copyright Commission of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru has issued a decisive order to block 128 websites that were illegally broadcasting matches from the Peruvian Football League (Liga 1) without explicit authorization. This action follows a thorough investigation confirming that these platforms were retransmitting live football matches, infringing upon the exclusive broadcasting rights held by the legitimate licensee.

To enforce this order, the Commission has issued a precautionary measure, compelling Peruvian internet service providers (ISPs), including Entel, Claro, Movistar, Bitel, WI-NET Telecom, Fiberlux, GTD Perú, and WOW Tel, to implement the necessary blocking of these infringing websites.

The legal procedure was initiated at the request of the exclusive licensee, who holds the rights to broadcast specific matches. It was conclusively determined that these pirate websites were operating by providing numerous access links to live streams of the Peruvian football league matches, enabling users to view the content without any payment or authorization from the rights holder.

These unauthorized actions constitute a clear violation of intellectual property rights and inflict significant harm upon the sports industry, which relies heavily on the sale of broadcasting rights for its financial viability and long-term sustainability. The commission has acted to protect the rights of the licence holder and to uphold the legal framework that safeguards intellectual property.

While many people watch games legally, through cable subscriptions, local television, or authorized streaming services, a growing number of people are using another method: illegally pirated live streams. 

One approach that has been adopted in over 39 countries is to use court orders to proactively block access to websites dedicated to piracy. These blocks are typically implemented at the Internet Service Provider (ISP) level, meaning that access to pirated content or streams can be denied even when that content is hosted by sites in another country.

According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, in Brazil and India the blocking caused a decrease in piracy and an increase in legal sales. 2019 blocks in India caused an overall 8.1% increase in visits to paid legal sites, while 2020 blocks caused an increase of 3.1%. In Brazil, 2021 blocks caused a 5.2% increase in visits to paid streaming sites.

"All of these results were statistically significant and confirmed that although website blocking is not a panacea, in more than one country it has proven effective in causing some users to consume more content through paid legal channels," the report states.