Vanonymous
Registered User
- Posts
- 276
- Posts Power
- 276.0%
- Liked
- 48
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2025
- Bonus Points
- 13,525
With the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) set to kick off in Morocco on December 21, a "vast operation" against illegal IPTV services is reportedly in the works. The plan follows an anti-piracy summit on Tuesday, where copyright groups from Morocco, France, and the EU joined forces with Interpol, the MPA, and ACE. The high-level meeting took place in Morocco, a jurisdiction where meaningful piracy enforcement has historically been nonexistent.
After years of preparations, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will kick off this Sunday at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco.
Hosts Morocco will get the tournament underway by taking on Comoros in the opening match, where a win would extend Morocco’s winning streak to 19 consecutive matches. The hosts are favored to come out on top in Africa’s biggest sporting event, which is expected to attract around two billion viewers across 180 countries.
How many will watch the tournament via an illegal IPTV or web-based streaming platform is naturally a hot topic.
IPTV Piracy Rampant, Achievable Enforcement “Not Adequate”
In a January 2025 report to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended that Morocco should be placed on the USTR’s ‘Watch List’ (pdf).
The reasons include “extremely high rates” of piracy for film and music, a weak legal framework that fails to empower authorities to tackle digital piracy, administrative authorities that do have the power to act, but fail to do so, and a public that “lacks basic understanding of copyright principles.”
The report dedicated six full pages to Morocco, laying out exactly what needs to be done to meet standards acceptable to the United States.
Describing IPTV piracy as “rampant” and inaction by the Moroccan Copyright and Related Rights Office (BMDAV) as a source of frustration, IIPA added that despite receiving complaints, BMDAV had initiated zero enforcement actions to date.
Yet taken on face value, there are now signs of unexpected improvement.
BMDAV Summit Supported by a Who’s-Who of Anti-Piracy Players
With the Africa Cup of Nations approaching, local news outlet SNRT caught up with BMDAV director Dalal Mhamdi Alaoui who spoke about the need to prevent the “proliferation” of pirate platforms broadcasting football matches without authorization.
The report revealed that an international anti-piracy summit would take place on December 16, organized by BMDAV in partnership with the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and the Delegation of the European Union to Morocco.
The summit was also supported by INTERPOL, which held its 93rd General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco, in late November, and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), whose members’ content regularly appears on pirate services, including those based in Morocco.
“Vast” Anti-IPTV Piracy Operation
The MPA is one the five members of the IIPA and the driving force behind anti-piracy coalition ACE, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. ACE was also listed for the anti-piracy summit, where one of the central topics was how to tackle unauthorized broadcasting of sporting events.
Despite the alleged lack of enforcement in Morocco, BMDAV informed SNRT that, in partnership with her office, broadcasting rightsholders are preparing to conduct a “vast anti-piracy operation” in which “all necessary legal measures” would be taken to prosecute illegal platforms.
A separate local report from Morocco World News provides more context.
“Recent investigations by ACE reveal a high concentration of piracy operators in Morocco in recent years, particularly in IPTV services, streaming, and content ripping. The organization’s research shows that some of these networks operate vast criminal systems targeting audiences across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East,” the report notes.
“With AFCON 2025 approaching, experts anticipate a significant increase in illegal live match streaming attempts. The conference aims to strengthen coordination between regulatory authorities, the judicial system, security services, and the private sector while raising awareness about the economic, social, and cultural impact of piracy.”
Working on the assumption that ACE and its partners would play key roles in local enforcement action, telegraphing a “vast” anti-piracy operation via the media isn’t the type of strategy the coalition has ever been known to deploy. Of course, indicating the scale of an operation says nothing about timing, even in the days leading up to an event that will almost certainly be heavily pirated.
In the background, meanwhile, broadcaster beIN has been exploring the potential for site-blocking measures in Morocco.
beIN sues Morocco ISPs
In the second half of 2024, beIN Sports was preparing to launch legal action against three local ISPs, including the largest telecoms company in Morocco, Maroc Telecom.
Details on the specifics are thin, but it appears that beIN’s goal was to obtain a ruling that forced the ISPs to block the illegal sports streaming site live-kooora.com. At the time it was one of the most popular sites of its type in Morocco and may have originally been part of a longer list of targets.
Whether blocking depends on a finding of ISP liability for pirated content isn’t clear, but since beIN’s demands aimed to force the ISPs to block the site to prevent their customers from accessing it, that’s one possibility.
At what stage these are lawsuits are currently at isn’t clear, but on December 10, beIN Media Group announced the launch of its TOD platform in Morocco, from where the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will be available to stream in 4K.
Not for free, of course, but for those who simply must have uninterrupted, flawless 4K, beIN’s offer is likely to be the only option available.
After years of preparations, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will kick off this Sunday at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco.
Hosts Morocco will get the tournament underway by taking on Comoros in the opening match, where a win would extend Morocco’s winning streak to 19 consecutive matches. The hosts are favored to come out on top in Africa’s biggest sporting event, which is expected to attract around two billion viewers across 180 countries.
How many will watch the tournament via an illegal IPTV or web-based streaming platform is naturally a hot topic.
IPTV Piracy Rampant, Achievable Enforcement “Not Adequate”
In a January 2025 report to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended that Morocco should be placed on the USTR’s ‘Watch List’ (pdf).
The reasons include “extremely high rates” of piracy for film and music, a weak legal framework that fails to empower authorities to tackle digital piracy, administrative authorities that do have the power to act, but fail to do so, and a public that “lacks basic understanding of copyright principles.”
The report dedicated six full pages to Morocco, laying out exactly what needs to be done to meet standards acceptable to the United States.
Describing IPTV piracy as “rampant” and inaction by the Moroccan Copyright and Related Rights Office (BMDAV) as a source of frustration, IIPA added that despite receiving complaints, BMDAV had initiated zero enforcement actions to date.
Yet taken on face value, there are now signs of unexpected improvement.
BMDAV Summit Supported by a Who’s-Who of Anti-Piracy Players
With the Africa Cup of Nations approaching, local news outlet SNRT caught up with BMDAV director Dalal Mhamdi Alaoui who spoke about the need to prevent the “proliferation” of pirate platforms broadcasting football matches without authorization.
The report revealed that an international anti-piracy summit would take place on December 16, organized by BMDAV in partnership with the French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and the Delegation of the European Union to Morocco.
The summit was also supported by INTERPOL, which held its 93rd General Assembly in Marrakech, Morocco, in late November, and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), whose members’ content regularly appears on pirate services, including those based in Morocco.
“Vast” Anti-IPTV Piracy Operation
The MPA is one the five members of the IIPA and the driving force behind anti-piracy coalition ACE, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. ACE was also listed for the anti-piracy summit, where one of the central topics was how to tackle unauthorized broadcasting of sporting events.
Despite the alleged lack of enforcement in Morocco, BMDAV informed SNRT that, in partnership with her office, broadcasting rightsholders are preparing to conduct a “vast anti-piracy operation” in which “all necessary legal measures” would be taken to prosecute illegal platforms.
A separate local report from Morocco World News provides more context.
“Recent investigations by ACE reveal a high concentration of piracy operators in Morocco in recent years, particularly in IPTV services, streaming, and content ripping. The organization’s research shows that some of these networks operate vast criminal systems targeting audiences across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East,” the report notes.
“With AFCON 2025 approaching, experts anticipate a significant increase in illegal live match streaming attempts. The conference aims to strengthen coordination between regulatory authorities, the judicial system, security services, and the private sector while raising awareness about the economic, social, and cultural impact of piracy.”
Working on the assumption that ACE and its partners would play key roles in local enforcement action, telegraphing a “vast” anti-piracy operation via the media isn’t the type of strategy the coalition has ever been known to deploy. Of course, indicating the scale of an operation says nothing about timing, even in the days leading up to an event that will almost certainly be heavily pirated.
In the background, meanwhile, broadcaster beIN has been exploring the potential for site-blocking measures in Morocco.
beIN sues Morocco ISPs
In the second half of 2024, beIN Sports was preparing to launch legal action against three local ISPs, including the largest telecoms company in Morocco, Maroc Telecom.
Details on the specifics are thin, but it appears that beIN’s goal was to obtain a ruling that forced the ISPs to block the illegal sports streaming site live-kooora.com. At the time it was one of the most popular sites of its type in Morocco and may have originally been part of a longer list of targets.
Whether blocking depends on a finding of ISP liability for pirated content isn’t clear, but since beIN’s demands aimed to force the ISPs to block the site to prevent their customers from accessing it, that’s one possibility.
At what stage these are lawsuits are currently at isn’t clear, but on December 10, beIN Media Group announced the launch of its TOD platform in Morocco, from where the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will be available to stream in 4K.
Not for free, of course, but for those who simply must have uninterrupted, flawless 4K, beIN’s offer is likely to be the only option available.