Attempts to block piracy of ‘MagisTV’ in Ecuador expand, trademark application rejected – File Sharing News

Ecuador’s top football league, LigaPro, continues to battle the availability of pirate streaming services. Dozens of ‘unauthorized’ platforms are active, but MagisTV is seen as the main opponent. To combat this threat, dozens of new IP addresses have been blocked by internet providers. Meanwhile, rights holders have caught a ball out of left field, successfully challenging a trademark application by MagisTV.

Rights holders around the world are actively fighting piracy, but few are as outspoken as Miguel Angel Loor, the boss of Ecuador’s LigaPro football league.

The football boss has repeatedly spoken out against pirate services, especially MagisTV, and continues to do so. In the meantime, no remedy is left unused to tackle the problem.

Critics have argued that public campaigns can be counterproductive by focusing so much attention on the pirate service itself. For example, displaying ‘anti-MagisTV’ banners during official football matches could introduce people to the pirate service, rather than deter them.

Do blocked IP addresses pose a risk to users?

LigaPro clearly has a different view. The league boss continues to speak out against piracy in general and does not shy away from naming names. Earlier this month, the league managed to strengthen local pirate site blocks by adding 183 new IP addresses to the MagisTV piracy block list that already existed.

“The granting of the IP blocking order is a legal victory for the legitimate rights holders and the thousands of customers who formally pay for their various content services,” the statement said in response to the order.

In addition to blocking additional IP addresses, the court reportedly warned that anyone attempting to access the blocked IP addresses will be subject to penalties and fines for copyright infringement. How those “attempts” at copyright infringement will be validated and enforced is conveniently left unexplained.

It is possible that the added warning for users is mainly intended as a deterrent. In any case, it is clear that local authorities understand LigaPro’s concerns, especially now that the new season has started.

More sites and IPs blocked

Last Friday, another court order arrived, requiring local internet providers to block eight additional websites and 24 IP addresses. This includes a site branded MagisTV, as well as other alleged pirate streaming sites and apps, such as futbollibretv.pe, tele-latino.net and rojadirectaenvivo.pl.

Interestingly, the full list of targets includes URLs that are part of larger, non-infringing websites. For example, buyiptvsmarters.myshopify.com is a Shopify subdomain that links to a pirate IPTV subscription page. Another subtarget is xc.softonic.com/android, which appears to be a pirate app distributed via the otherwise legal Softonic platform.

From the Teleamazonas report

It is not clear whether LigaPro or other rights holders attempted to have these pages removed through regular takedown procedures prior to receiving the court order. It stands to reason that blocking the associated IP addresses would likely result in overblocking as that is taking place.

MagisTV Trademark

In addition to the blocking attempts, rights holders have also opposed MagisTV on another front. Apparently, the company ‘Shenzhen Geshan Technology’ has repeatedly tried to register a trademark of MagisTV (Magis TV Mas Grafica) in Ecuador.

These applications were successfully appealed by LigaPro to the Trademark Office, recently with the help of Paramount Pictures and DIRECTV.

“Unbelievable, they are trying to register the ‘trademark’ for the SECOND time in (Ecuador). The first time it was already rejected. Now LigaPro is opposing again, together with Paramount Pictures and Directv, and our opposition has been approved,” the LigaPro boss wrote on X.

Backlash and reckless play?

Miguel Angel Loor’s public opposition to MagisTV and other pirate services seems unyielding. The LigaPro boss recently revealed that local internet providers are now on board to help. Whether that means more than complying with court orders is unknown, but MagisTV has been prominently mentioned again.

These anti-piracy messages are welcomed by rights holders, but they provoke a very different reaction from many ordinary citizens, some of whom respond with mocking and challenging responses. These responses typically complain about expensive legal options, and some show how they continue to pirate.

The LigaPro boss has noticed these comments and while most of them are ignored, he has responded to a user who indicated that he is already using MagisTV as usual, through a VPN.

According to Loor, “this guy” is supporting a pirate service that ultimately generates revenue, which “certainly” funds other types of crime, including sexual exploitation. No source was given for this claim. However, Loor added that VPNs aren’t entirely risk-free either (if the company running them has malicious intent).

“(T)his guy is VOLUNTARILY giving away all the data on his phone without realizing that the passwords and everything he sends will be exposed with the VPN. But hey, keep fighting what is legal and correct,” Loor added.

Of course, these comments were met with a barrage of other responses, criticizing LigaPro and exposing pirate apps and services. Instead of reaching some sort of consensus or agreement, both sides are becoming more extreme.

And so the ball keeps rolling.

Source

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