CANAL+ GROUP Applauds Takedown of Illegal Service
OUJDA, Morocco, Oct. 18, 2021 – The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, the leading global coalition dedicated to reducing digital piracy and protecting the creative ecosystem, has shut down the popular, illegal streaming service, Electro TV Sat.
Electro TV Sat offered several reseller packages and Illicit Streaming Devices preloaded with illegal streaming apps. The service, which had been active since April 2020, featured 6,000 channels and 200,000 movie titles & TV series, affecting all 34 members of ACE. Two individuals from the city of Oujda in northeast Morocco operated the service, which received 90,000 monthly visitors with substantial traffic coming from French-speaking countries.
“The theft of online content is the single greatest threat to the global creative community. Shutting down Electro TV Sat in North Africa is a strong demonstration of the impact that ACE’s global investigative and enforcement capabilities can have on reducing that threat,” said Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Content Protection for the Motion Picture Association. “We’ll continue to work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the legal film, TV and streaming industry in every corner of the world and appreciate the ongoing collaboration with our partners at CANAL+ Group.”
“CANAL+ Group has fought for years against audiovisual piracy, and our presence within ACE proves our involvement in this campaign. The many successes of ACE in the Maghreb region and CANAL+ Group’s consistent focus on French speaking markets highlight a new dynamic in the global fight against piracy, which should be of great concern to pirate IPTV resellers,” said Céline Boyer, Head of Content Protection, CANAL+ Group.
Following ACE’s action against Electro TV Sat, its domains were transferred to ACE and are now redirecting to the Watch Legally section on the ACE website.
This development marks ACE’s second successful action in the North African region; the other was the shutdown of Algeria-based IPTV subscription service Akfasat in 2020. That service provided access to over 3,500 live channels and over 26,000 movies and TV shows.
The theft of online content harms both local and foreign films and businesses, threatens jobs, undermines investment, reduces tax revenue to governments, and stifles creativity. With its “all-of-the-above” approach to reducing piracy, ACE’s legal and operational toolkit includes criminal referrals, litigation, and direct communications among other tactics.
About The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation and cease-and-desist operations, ACE has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and sources of unauthorized content and their operators. Drawing upon the collective expertise and resources of all members and reinforced by the content protection operations of the Motion Picture Association, ACE protects the creativity and innovation that drive the global growth of core copyright and entertainment industries. The current governing board members for ACE are: Amazon, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Sony Pictures Entertainment, ViacomCBS, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and Warner Bros. Charles Rivkin is Chairman of ACE and the Motion Picture Association. For more information, please visit www.alliance4creativity.com.
About CANAL+ Group
CANAL+ Group is a leading media company and pay-TV operator. It is also a leading player in free-to-air television with three national channels, C8, CSTAR and CNEWS, and an ads sales agency. CANAL+ Group has a wide international footprint with a presence in Europe, Africa and Asia. CANAL+ Group totals 22.1 million subscribers worldwide, including 8.9 million in mainland France. With STUDIOCANAL, CANAL+ Group is also a European leader in the production, acquisition and distribution of feature films and TV series. CANAL+ Group is wholly-owned by worldwide integrated content, media and communication group, Vivendi.
Media Contacts:
ACE
Kristen Tarnol – VP Communications
kristen_tarnol@motionpictures.org
CANAL+ Group
Elvire Charbonnel – Communication Department
elvire.charbonnel@canal-plus.com
