LaLiga demands €450 from those who watch pirated football

LaLiga, the organisation that manages Spain's professional football league, has launched a campaign against piracy by sending certified letters claiming €450 in compensation to users who have accessed pirate football platforms.

In March, the Commercial Court No. 8 of Barcelona, Spain, granted LaLiga access to the personal data of customers of major telecommunications providers whose connections were used to access illegal football IPTV services and Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange, among others, are now identifying and providing data on service subscribers who accessed specific combinations of IP addresses and ports during match broadcasts.

The Barcelona court considered that these users were not mere end-users using the signal in good faith and without commercial intent, but were involved in cardsharing, where legitimate users redistribute the signal to unauthorised networks that retransmit it. In response, the General Council of the Judiciary clarified that operators should only provide personal data of those who illegally share their content, specifically cardsharers who profit from the redistribution of the signal, not those who merely evade subscription fees.

Nevertheless, LaLiga president Javier Tebas pointed out that, in his view, the one who broadcasts the pirate signal is as guilty as the one who watches it. As a result, LaLiga has sent letters indiscriminately to all users who have connected to a pirate network to watch a match.