Big blow for those who wanted to watch their sporting events and do not have a subscription to the many operators.
Some 250 websites broadcasting live sports competitions without authorization have been blocked in France since January, said Tuesday Arcom, the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication.
This represents nearly two-thirds (63%) of the illicit sports audience online, according to Arcom, born in January from the merger between the CSA (the audiovisual regulator) and Hadopi (a structure responsible for combating internet piracy).
These are “more than encouraging, spectacular results”, commented Denis Rapone, in charge of the protection of creation and the fight against sports piracy at Arcom, during a press conference marking the first 100 days. of the instance.
These blockages were permitted by the so-called anti-piracy or anti-streaming law, effective since January.
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The rights holders of the competitions can seize the judge to request the blocking.
Also seized by the beneficiaries, Arcom can ask Internet access providers to block illegal services that appeared after the court decision and which broadcast the same competitions without authorization.
Canal +, BeIN Sports and the LFP applaud
Five court decisions have been obtained so far, recalled Denis Rapone: four for the benefit of the Canal + and BeIN Sports channels for football (Champions League and African Cup of Nations) and rugby (Top 14), and one for the benefit of the Professional Football League (LFP) for Ligue 1 and 2. Between court decisions and Arcom procedures, a total of "250 sites have been blocked" since January 1, has he said.
At the end of March, Canal +, BeIN Sports and the LFP welcomed these blockages.
In addition, still within the framework of its new attributions, Arcom will house from June a “qualified personality”, the magistrate Laurence Pécaut-Rivolier, on the fight against terrorist and child pornography content.
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According to the law, this personality is responsible for controlling the activity of the office made up of gendarmes and police officers which rules on this content via the Pharos platform.
In 2020, this represented “55,000 decisions to withdraw, block, delist”, she explained on Tuesday.
Child pornography sites constitute "the vast majority", but the proportion "of terrorist sites (...) continues to increase", she underlined.
Previously, this "qualified personality" was attached to the CNIL (National Commission for Computing and Liberties).
