Friday, November 29, 2024, 7:04 p.m.
Javier Tebas presided over a conference in Buenos Aires against audiovisual fraud in Latin America, an event with such a powerful draw that it had panelists from all over South America, including the Minister of Justice of Argentina, Mariano Cúneo, and around 300 attendees including press and members of the industry and to which Relevo, representing Vocento, was invited. The president of LaLiga has been involved in this war for a long time, leading it unequivocally, going after Google and other technology companies that favor piracy.
The event was held in Buenos Aires taking advantage of the Libertadores final tomorrow and because this country is one of the areas with the highest piracy in Latam. LaLiga estimates the punishment that piracy exerts on the business at around 700 million euros, where there are “necessary collaborators” to keep the party going. Mainly Google: «They think we are stupid. There will be a day when a CEO will be arrested. Because they are committing crimes. They obtain money of illicit origin. “We have filed many criminal complaints against them.” Also companies like Cloudflare, less known but necessary because it is the smokescreen that hackers use to avoid being discovered. “More than 50% of illegal sports content is behind cloudflare.”
The war is fought in the courts, with operations and precautionary measures that shed some light in the darkness, but it needs legislation. «We spoke with the Government and other actors such as Telefónica. The political situation in Spain makes it complicated [contar con una ley]but I do not rule out that there could be an important agreement. March 2025 marks the deadline for a European Union recommendation on anti-piracy laws and there will be an examination of who has and has not complied. Only Italy has fulfilled it. We will see if it is consummated in a European Union regulation.
Tebas’ fierce determination will take him from Buenos Aires to the Middle East in 24 hours to continue fighting this battle, which already began 10 years ago, which has 50 people within the LaLiga unit and whose budget does not stop growing to be able to face this fight. With the support of the clubs, because they know that the rights of the competition, when they are renegotiated (each area has its date), may be reduced due to the negative impact. It’s simple, without piracy, there would be more income for everyone.
A fight that is everywhere. Without going any further, last Wednesday Vinicius Junior uploaded a story watching Liverpool-Madrid. Like Fermín did in his day, although less crude, because it was a television and not a screenshot. The signal, from TNT Sports Brasil: «If it is in Madrid, and I think it was in Madrid, it is piracy. Access to the content to watch the Champions League in Spain must be through Movistar television. To see that content you had to have a VPN (virtual private network necessary to propagate the signal), or a satellite dish directed somewhere else. There has to be active conduct going beyond the scope of Movistar. “I was hacking the game.” LaLiga sent a letter to Real Madrid complaining.
