istock-824613042tuiphotoengineer
13 July 2018Copyright

Saudi Arabia welcomes FIFA piracy action

Saudi Arabia has welcomed FIFA’s announcement that it has engaged legal counsel to take action in Saudi Arabia against the alleged pirate channel beoutQ.

Yesterday, WIPR reported that football’s international governing body FIFA was making moves to tackle the pirate site, which has been streaming World Cup matches in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Saudi Arabia has previously denied allegations made by tennis governing bodies that the country is the source of beoutQ.

Yesterday, in welcoming FIFA’s announcement, Saudi Arabia’s ministry of media said that the governing body’s actions would supplement the “relentless efforts” by the ministry of commerce and investment in combatting beoutQ’s activities.

“These efforts and others reinforce the government of Saudi Arabia’s devotion to protecting IP rights within [Saudi Arabia],” said the ministry.

BeoutQ’s pirate broadcasts are allegedly available in Saudi Arabia, but the ministry claimed that the website is not based in the country.

It added that beoutQ’s set-top boxes are also available in, and its pirate broadcasts are targeted at, other nations in the MENA region.

In addition to engaging with counsel, FIFA is working alongside other sports rights owners that have been affected.

The World Cup ends on Sunday, July 15, when France will play Croatia.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Today’s top stories

EU court upholds invalidation of PR trademark

Rock band rages at Nigel Farage podcast

Mixed IP reaction to Brexit White Paper

World Cup special: 5 stories about football and IP

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Copyright
12 July 2018   Just days before the end of the football World Cup, the sport’s international governing body FIFA has revealed its plan to tackle a pirate site.
Copyright
16 August 2018   Technical evidence has allegedly established “beyond any doubt” that a satellite operator headquartered in Saudi Arabia is responsible for distributing pirated content, including the recent English Premier League and French Ligue 1 football matches.
Copyright
3 October 2018   Qatar’s ministry of economy and commerce has accused Saudi Arabia of violating the IP rights of Qatari citizens, in a recent filing at the World Trade Organization.