The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and sports streamer DAZN have forced the shutdown of Photocall, a Spain-based piracy operation that illegally restreamed live TV channels and logged more than 26 million visits over the past year.
Photocall provided unauthorised access to 1,127 TV channels from 60 countries, including broadcasters carrying premium live sports. Almost 30% of its traffic came from Spain, with Mexico accounting for over 13%, and Germany, Italy and the US each generating around 6% of visits.
Following a joint investigation, ACE – the Motion Picture Association-led anti-piracy coalition – and DAZN identified the operator in Spain and reached a settlement that includes the immediate closure of the site.
DAZN Iberia CEO Oscar Vilda said the action helped “safeguard the value” of those rights and protect fans from malware and fraud risks associated with illegal services. MPA executive vice president and chief content protection officer Larissa Knapp said ACE would continue to target illicit live streaming operations to protect rights-holders and legitimate services.
Although Photocall did not carry DAZN’s own channels, it redistributed feeds from a number of DAZN rights partners. These included coverage of MotoGP, Formula 1, Serie A, the NFL, the NHL and the WTA, as well as club channels such as Real Madrid TV, Barça TV and Betis TV.
