The Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) welcomed a new member to its ranks yesterday. DAZN is a global leader in live sports streaming platforms, so partnering with the “world’s leading content protection coalition dedicated to combatting the illegal acts of digital piracy that harm the thriving digital ecosystem” is a win-win for both organizations.
“Intellectual property theft of live sports content is an industry issue, negatively impacting all sports and sports fans, and it needs a global concerted effort to meaningfully tackle it,” says DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev. “ACE is the natural home for the Sports Piracy Task Force, given their track record, reputation, and experience in delivering effective programs of action.”
ACE and DAZN along with 52 other companies will work together with law enforcement to shut down piracy operations with the new ACE Sports Piracy Task Force.
In an announcement released yesterday, ACE states, “Adding DAZN and creating the task force expands the coalition’s focus on the growing threat that large-scale piracy operations pose to live sports broadcasters, distributors, and leagues. According to a study from Synamedia/Ampere,1 addressing global sports piracy could amount to an additional $28 billion USD of annual revenue for the industry.”
Another member of the coalition to combat sports piracy is beIN Media Group, the official broadcaster for the FIFA World Cup Qatar in 2022 for the Middle East, North Africa, and France. ACE helped the network eliminate a Moroccon piracy operation shortly before the FIFA World Cup aired. Together, they shut down and identified several more piracy rings last year.
While the hunt for video pirates is an admirable goal and a weight off the shoulders of many content providers, this could have overreaching effects on Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services. Providers must be certain they acquire copyright owner’s permissions and hold the proper licenses for all content available on their platforms. Otherwise, they might find themselves on ACE’s watchlist.