'Urgent' court order passed as IPTV and piracy crackdown grows

The war against illegal streaming and IPTV continues, with almost another two dozen websites blocked by authorities looking to end it.

Millions around the world use illicit means to watch premium content, whether that's live football from the Premier League or the latest TV shows and films to drop on Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.

But it is against the law and authorities are now upping their game across the world when it comes to tackling it, with another 'urgent act' taken to stop people getting around not paying subscription fees.

This year we have already seen a landmark court ruling in Spain - albeit one that's left some confusion - to tackle illegal streaming of the country's premiere football competition, La Liga.

And in Italy, a new Piracy Shield system has been brought in that bans IPTV and illegal streaming websites, even removing them from Google search results.

One intellectual property lawyer has spoken out about the growing issues with piracy, saying decade-long prison sentences could be on the horizon.

And now a 'historical' court order has been passed in South America; a continent that loves its football just as much as Europe.

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Miguel Angel Loor, president of Ecuador's top flight football league, Liga Pro, took to social media to explain the importance of the act in the fight against piracy.

Speaking last week, he said it gave the league 'imminent' powers to block those who are illegally streaming Liga Pro football matches, with criminal action now on the cards.

It comes after Loor posted about the league's fight against IPTV. Taking to X, Loor said earlier this month: "Step by step we are going to go against all these IPTV or signals that provide our content illegally. We as Liga Pro, together with those who invest in our content and the clubs, will initiate actions against all those who seek to harm our industry and our product."

Announcing the new court order, Loor listed 22 websites that were being banned under the new legal precedent.

He wrote [translated]: "HISTORICAL! For the first time in the history of Ecuador, LigaPro achieves an URGENT ACT that orders the imminent blocking of websites used for unauthorised broadcast of LigaPro Ecuabet matches.

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"The LigaPro Integrity Department, led by Gabriel Drouet with Fexlaw Global lawyers and the Cybersecurity Department of Fextor International, managed to identify and report the main websites that illegitimately broadcast content protected by LigaPro intellectual property rights. LigaPro has taken several legal actions aimed at stopping the violations, including in the administrative, criminal and civil spheres.

"One of the main legal mechanisms has been today to successfully achieve the first Urgent Act in the history of Ecuador that allowed, through a court order, the blocking of the main infringing websites that illegitimately broadcast the Ecuadorian soccer championship.

"We thank the Fiscalia Ecuador and Consejo de la Judicatura for the speed and diligence with which the issue has been dealt with. With these steps we will surely be able to take care of the product and content of professional soccer clubs."

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He added: "In this way, it is intended to protect the exclusivity of LigaPro's intellectual property rights, prevent major economic damages against its 26 affiliated clubs and safeguard the safety of consumers.

"For this reason, the new LigaPro Integrity and Anti-Piracy Directorate has as its mission the resounding combat against this type of activities that try to harm Ecuadorian football. This fight has just begun and we are going to act with the full weight of the law to protect the most popular sport in Ecuador, from which thousands of families live."