News
Saudi’s
crackdown
on piracy as
Newcastle
bid tabled
The Saudi Authority for Intellectual
Property (SAIP) has announced its
intention to block 231 websites that it
says violate regulations and rights. The move
comes as Saudi investors table a bid English
Premier League football club Newcastle
United.
The stand on piracy comes as the World
Trade Organization (WTO) found that
“prominent Saudi nationals” promoted
illegal broadcasts by the pirate network
beoutQ which, in particular, gave access to
live Premier League action. Any bidders for
a Premier League club must pass a ‘fit and
proper person’ test and the WTO report is
damaging in that regard.
The new interest in stopping piracy may
also benefit reported moves by Saudi Arabia
to enter the bidding for Germany’s Bundesliga
rights in the Middle East, in the latest move to
make new investments in international sport
and confound rival Gulf-state backed media.
Germany’s top division is currently in
exclusive talks with beIN Sports to renew
the Qatar-based network’s $250 million
five-year deal, which runs out at the end
of the 2019/20 season, but reports suggest
that a representative for the Saudi state has
contacted rights holder DFL seeking to acquire
the Middle East rights.
The Bundesliga announced in late June
2020 that European pay-TV network Sky and
online service DAZN would pay €4.4 billion
to screen matches in Germany for four years
from the 2021-22 season. The domestic rights
deal was €200 million less than its previous
contract, in the first sign that the market
for live sports has weakened because of the
coronavirus crisis. The FT and others report
that Saudi Arabia has tried to force its way into
the bidding at the last moment.
SAIP says the initiative continues the
efforts of Saudi Arabia to minimise violations
against intellectual property rights, and follows
an online inspection campaign on websites and
platforms that violates intellectual property
laws including sites broadcast from outside the
kingdom, saying that it recently monitored,
examined, and analysed 231 websites that
violate Intellectual Property law to prevent it
from being browsed from the Kingdom.
According to SAIP, monitored sites
included a group of violations, such as
downloading and watching movies and series,
directly broadcasting sites of encrypted sports
channels, downloading books in PDF format
sites, downloading and listening to music
sites - all carried out without obtaining a prior
licence or authorisation from the rights holder.
SAIP said it had also detected websites
selling subscriptions for encrypted TV
channels through software or illicit streaming
devices (ISDs) to break barriers for the
purpose of displaying materials in illegal ways.
“SAIP confirmed that these practices
violates the copyright protection law and entail
financial penalties and fines that may reach up
to 250,000 Saudi riyals [€60,000],” it said. “In
addition to the applied fines, the violation may
cause the closure of the site, or the cancellation
of the commercial licence, and in some cases
it can cause to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding six months or defamation at the
account of the infringer and removing the
infringement.”
Authorities in Saudi Arabia have written
to the Premier League insisting that they
will counter piracy of broadcast rights, in the
latest move around the potential takeover of
Newcastle United.
A letter from the head of the Saudi Arabia
Football Federation (SAFF) has been sent
to the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA and the
International Olympic Committee in the hope
of providing reassurance that the kingdom
does accept “a responsibility to help fight
piracy”.
Disney to close UK
linear channels
Disney has confirmed that, from
October 1st, its Disney+ D2C
service will be the exclusive UK
home for content from Disney
Channel, Disney XD, and Disney
Junior – effectively ending the
their linear channels carried on
UK pay-TV platforms BT TV, Sky
and Virgin Media.
“The direct-to-consumer
service, which garnered more
that 54.5 million subscribers
worldwide in its first seven
months, will now premiere
all the latest films, series and
specials from the three Disney
Channels, along with offering
a rich and expansive back
catalogue of Disney Channel
titles in the UK,” said the
broadcaster.
“The Walt Disney Company
remains committed to our
kids channels business
and continues to execute
distribution agreements for
Disney channels in many
markets where Disney+ is
also available, with the goal of
giving our fans multiple entry
points to our storytelling,” it
added.”
“This represents a landmark
moment,” commented Paolo
Pescatore, TMT analyst at PP
Foresight. “The streaming
revolution is gathering pace
and cannot be ignored,” he
added, noting that companies
can no longer continue to
support a slew of channels and
cannibalise revenue streams.
“The future is all about
streaming and this latest
move sets a benchmark for
others to follow. All in one
place still represents the
Holy Grail for telcos,” he said,
describing Disney’s move as
“one further step towards less
fragmentation, and one huge
leap for companies to connect
with new audiences and
understand better their habits.”
6 EUROMEDIA