Five men were tried this Thursday before the criminal court of Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) for having set up a series of websites illegally broadcasting live sports matches between 2014 and 2017. Canal + claims 29.9 million euros in damages, most of which have modest incomes. The companies SFR and BeIN Sports also brought civil actions.
"Welcome everyone to the best free streaming site," announced the home page of one of 30 websites broadcasting football, basketball or rugby matches, normally reserved for subscribers to pay channels. From 2014 to 2017, the nine most visited sites in this "galaxy" attracted no less than 7.5 million unique visitors, according to an estimate quoted to the audience.
230,000 euros pocketed thanks to advertisements
"We are not talking about two or three recordings of programs between friends", launched in an inquisitive tone the president of the court, François Lavallière. Thanks to special software, defendants received the video stream from their Canal +, BeIN Sports or RMC Sports subscriptions, to transmit it to a server.
For foreign channels, links to illegal content sites were put online, according to elements of the investigation cited at the hearing. Site visitors were then "bombarded" with advertisements, which would have brought in almost 230,000 euros, paid by 50 advertising agencies between 2014 and 2018.
"All the income you see there is not just streaming," defended Olivier O., 46, creator of the sites, assuring that part of the funds came from legal sites. "I couldn't tell the difference between the two, I wasn't orderly enough," he said.
During the material time, Olivier O., also prosecuted for money laundering, opened accounts in Switzerland and the Virgin Islands, traveled to Seychelles, Senegal, Guadeloupe and Mauritius. He bought a house and a "housing complex" near his home. Some 280,000 euros were seized as part of the investigation - house, car and bank accounts.
Ensuring that he has only "modest" computer skills, this former seller of photocopiers had launched in 2011 in streaming, helped by one of his former work colleagues Yannick T., 42-year-old computer scientist. Apart from the two Britons, the other defendants had only contacted each other through discussion forums. "We are above all passionate", justified Olivier O., full of confidence at the helm. “I am passionate about football but I don't even watch it on TV. On the radio, it's ten times better. "
"In the Robins of the Woods spirit"
A passion that Yannick T. did not share, paid 55,000 euros between 2014 and 2018 to broadcast matches and administer the sites. "For me, it was not prohibited, he justified himself, pallid, at the helm. I was not aware. "
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The other defendants were paid little or no for their work as broadcasters or site moderators. Girondin Jean-Eric M., 56, says he acted "in the Robin Hood spirit" because "there were lots of people who could not afford to pay subscriptions". "This is not a small matter, a small website," said Richard Willemant, a lawyer for Canal +, referring to a case "at a crucial point in the fight against pirating sports streaming".
The audience of streaming sites was estimated in 2017 at 6.7 million unique visitors on average per month, according to a parliamentary report, which estimates that the live streaming of sports broadcasts represents between 10% and 20% of the audiences carried out at television.