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UEFA, ACE team for antipiracy initiative

European football’ s governing body UEFA has officially joined the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment( ACE), the content protection coalition dedicated to combating digital piracy. UEFA becomes the first

exclusive sports rights-holder to join ACE, while contributing to a broader industry-wide effort to safeguard the value of creative and sporting content worldwide.
UEFA will play an active role in ACE’ s Live Tier, which enhances and coordinates ACE’ s efforts to target sports piracy operations and, working with law enforcement and
UEFA becomes the first exclusive sports rightsholder to join ACE other partners, pursues actions that dismantle illegal operations worldwide. It also reinforces the position of UEFA and UC3 – the entity overseeing the commercialisation of the rights of UEFA’ s club competitions – at the forefront of global anti-piracy action.
ACE brings together over 50 major entertainment companies and studios in a coordinated bid to combat piracy that threatens the integrity of the digital ecosystem.
“ UEFA joining ACE represents a landmark moment in our global content protection strategy,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, executive director of marketing at UEFA.“ This partnership allows us to expand our enforcement capabilities, deepen our existing collaboration with industry leaders and leverage ACE’ s proven capabilities to disrupt illegal services.”
“ With UEFA joining the world’ s largest anti-piracy coalition, we are strengthening our fight to detect, deter, and dismantle online piracy everywhere,” said Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and chairman of ACE.“ UEFA’ s membership bolsters
ACE’ s ability to defend sports content from nefarious players in real time – and amplifies the reach of our efforts to protect football fans and broadcasters across the globe.”
Members of the ACE Live Tier benefit from sharing the Alliance’ s real-time intelligence, global reach, policy advocacy and partnerships with private sector and law enforcement allies. Building upon ACE’ s proven toolkit to dismantle piracy networks, the Live Tier features global hubs, processes and technology dedicated to addressing the immediacy of gameday piracy. UEFA and UC3 say they remain deeply committed to safeguarding the interests of their family of broadcast partners. This commitment is essential, recognising that media rights revenues across UEFA competitions underpin the sustainability of football at both professional and grassroots levels, while supporting development initiatives throughout the wider European football ecosystem.
BT signs Starlink connectivity deal
BT and Starlink have announced
what they describe as a
“ landmark agreement” which
will bring Starlink’ s satellite
connectivity to BT and EE
broadband customers,
complementing BT Group’ s fibre
and mobile networks to ensure
no community is left behind in
the digital age.
The collaboration – a first
in the UK and one of the first
globally – will see BT Group offer
ultrafast, low-latency satellite
connectivity to customers
in rural and remote areas
where traditional fixed-line
infrastructure is economically
unviable or geographically challenging to build.
With Starlink capable of delivering download speeds of up to 280 Mbps, the agreement marks a significant milestone in making highspeed Internet connectivity widely accessible within the
hardest to reach parts of the UK – with the service expected to be available to customers in the latter half of 2026.
The integration of Starlink’ s satellite technology into its networks offering complements BT Group’ s ongoing fibre build, with its
Openreach division recently surpassing the 20m premises milestone as part of its nationwide full fibre upgrade programme – on track to reach 25m premises by the end of 2026 and with an ambition to reach 30m by 2030.
Allison Kirkby, chief executive, BT Group, said the agreement was“ a giant leap for rural connectivity” which would“ bridge the digital divide better than ever”.
Chad Gibbs, VP of business operations, SpaceX, added that Starlink was committed to its mission to connect the unconnected while maintaining focus on delivering overall quality of service.
4 EUROMEDIA