The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has called for a “robust attack” on the Saudi-backed beoutQ.
The DCMS committee heard how beoutQ had pirated content from “100 UK-based” channels including the BBC.
In answer to a question from committee member Giles Watling MP, secretary of state Jeremy Wright QC, confirmed that a number of UK government departments are “pursuing this matter” and “the [UK] embassy in Riyadh is speaking to the Saudis on this subject”.
“If we want to see good quality sport, we have to make sure that people are able to protect those rights so they can carry on delivering it to us; and those that are seeking to undermine those rights of course undermine that process. So that’s why we take an interest, it’s why we understand and sympathise with the concerns the Premier League and others have expressed and as I say there is activity underway.”
MPs heard how beoutQ’s commercial theft included content from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
“This latest development in the global fight against beoutQ is hugely significant, as it represents a critically important call from a Parliamentary Committee of MPs for the UK Government to intervene with the Saudi Government to stop the continued daily theft of valuable UK brands,” said Yousef Al-Obaidly, CEO, beIN Media Group.
The ever-growing list of sports rights alleged to have been ‘stolen’ by beoutQ includes Champions League, Bundesliga, Premier League, Formula 1 and NFL.
The Chairman of the DCMS Committee, Damian Collins MP, added: “the issue of beoutQ is straightforward piracy” and went on to question whether the Government was taking appropriate independent action by adding, “I’d be slightly concerned if our interest in this issue, and addressing it, is being balanced with other trade interests in the region”.
In the last week, two major reports published by the US government directly condemned and called for an end to the rampant Saudi-backed beoutQ piracy operation.
