New crackdown on online piracy. Dazn is asking for damages (500 euros) from the pirates identified by an investigation by the GdF in Lecce. Here is the text of the letter and what the law requires
Dazn goes on the attack and is now asking web pirates to pay so as not to end up in litigation. A turning point in the fight against piracy made possible by the tightening of controls and sanctions, after for years the Italian football system and the broadcasters who broadcast it have complained of damages amounting to 300 million euros per season due to the so-called Pezzotto.
The platform which exclusively broadcasts the Serie A championship has taken action against around 2,000 users who ended up in the network in an operation which, in recent months, dismantled an association which guaranteed the illegal transmission of the signal starting from Lecce.
In addition to a fine from the Guardia di Finanza, they received a registered letter from Dazn signed by the CEO Stefano Azzi with the proposal for an amicable settlement of the matter.
In essence, they will be asked to pay a sum of 500 euros to close the dispute before going to court with the commitment to no longer use illegal expedients to follow Serie A matches via streaming. Otherwise, the option is to be held accountable in court with the risk of increased costs.
The users involved had been identified as part of an operation conducted by the Special Goods and Services Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Rome and the Economic-Financial Police Unit of Lecce, coordinated by the local Prosecutor’s Office. The investigations had made it possible to dismantle an IPTV infrastructure that transmitted content in violation of the Copyright Law (n. 633/41), tracing the users thanks to a detailed analysis of personal, banking and geographical data.
The authorization of the competent Prosecutor’s Office allowed the transmission of the data to the rights holders, who now have the necessary information to be able to take civil and administrative action. Since the beginning of the year, Dazn reports, almost 2,500 pirate users have been sanctioned and over 3,000 are currently being identified.
