Google ordered to 'remotely delete IPTV apps from phones' after landmark court ruling

Tech giant Google has been ordered to start remotely deleting IPTV apps that are illegally streaming content in a blow to people who don't want to pay for premium TV, film, or sports packages.

It is as a result of a court order in South America. And despite it being on a different continent, is something those combatting piracy are keen to bring to the likes of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and wider Europe.

Whether you like it or not, watching content in the modern age requires many of us to subscribe - and therefore pay - to multiple services.

Gone are the days where you could just have your Sky box. Enter the world of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and TNT Sports. Even Sky has gone for in to the streaming app market with its NOW brand, alongside the more traditional satellite TV.

Some people don't want to pay, though, with Internet Protocol television (IPTV) booming in popularity in recent years.

Offering content from a range of services for a pretty tiny fee, you can understand why people are opting to choose this option. Especially when police are even admitting the cost of streaming is getting too much.

The problem is it is illegal, with IPTV providers not owning the copyright to the content they're providing.

IPTV is growing in popularity (Getty Stock Images)

There's also a security risk to watching content illegally, according to tech experts, with one recently saying that 'dodgy boxes' open you up to something called a 'Wi-Fi takeover'. And spoiler, it doesn't sound good if you happen to fall victim.

Now, over in Argentina, arrests have been made in relation to local IPTV service Magis TV, with local reports saying police raided shops where they found 'full-loaded' IPTV boxes and devices with the Magis TV app pre-installed.

Google ordered to delete IPTV apps remotely

Behind the raids was Argentina’s Specialised Unit on Cybercrime (UFEIC). And in lodging proceedings with Judge Esteban Rossignoli at Court 4 of San Isidro, it has now been ruled that Google has to 'adopt the necessary technical means to immediately uninstall from Android systems that report IP addresses in the territory of the Argentine Republic (which can be verified by the IP addresses assigned to this country), the application named Magis TV'.

Google must act, the court says (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Magis TV app isn't available on the Play Store, with those who have it - and other IPTV apps like it - on their phones having put it there by sideloading it on to their device.

Alejandro Musso, prosecuting, said that the request from Judge Rossignoli 'has never been done before', but agreed it was necessary to stop piracy.

"What was achieved is an unprecedented court order, which is in the process of being analysed by Google - we understand that they cannot deny it - which is to uninstall, through the Android operating system update, the application on all devices that have an IP address in Argentina," he said.

People use 'dodgy sticks' to watch IPTV - but it is being targeted more than ever (Getty Stock Images)

'Breaking the cycle of digital piracy'

Rossignoli said that the ruling in Argentina will be one he expects to be replicated around the world.

Javier Tebas, the president of the top flight Spanish football league, La Liga, said it shows that tech companies must prevent illegal streaming when ordered to by courts, revealing an ongoing case of a similar nature is ongoing in the Spanish courts.

Once the Magis TV app is deleted, Google will not let it be reinstalled, meaning IPTV providers will have to go down a brand new route if they want to keep bypassing piracy rules.

He says: "We understand that this measure will be replicated immediately by many countries that have this same type of problem.

“What will be achieved once this is completed is that the installed app disappears and cannot be downloaded again, thus breaking the cycle of digital piracy. The only way Magis TV could circumvent this is to develop a new app where we would be waiting for them, ready to do exactly the same thing once we identify it."