By Paul Nicholson
November 2 – The global sports backlash against Saudi Arabia and its support of pirate streaming service BeoutQ has now extended to other general entertainment players with BBC and Sky in the UK calling on the European commission to take formal action against Saudi Arabia.
The illegal streaming of every game from the World Cup in Russia appears to have emboldened the Saudi-based channel whose set-top boxes are now available internationally, including in the UK, and illegally streaming access to thousands of premium TV channels. BeoutQ also provides access to other illegal streaming apps.
So far the channel has been allowed to broadcast via Saudi Arabia-based and 34% owned Arabsat pretty much unchecked. Qatari-based BeIN media – the main target of BeoutQ both for content and geo-politically – has launched a $1 billion lawsuit against Saudi Arabia while both FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League have appointed legal counsel to try to protect their rights.
Sky and the BBC are asking the European Commission to take action against BeoutQ and have written to Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for trade.
Sky’s letter to Malmström, seen by Insideworldfootball, refers to BeoutQ as a “relatively new, but rapidly growing, source of audio-visual piracy” and a proposed action against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The letter, written by Daniel Friedlaender the head of Sky’s EU office, says: “I understnd that DG Trade is planning imminently to launch a demarche towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arbia (KSA) authorities regarding the issue. The purpose of this letter is to confirm Sky’s full support for the demarche.”
Friedlaender says the piracy “impairs” investment in the creative industries, reducing the value of rights and the ability to recoup investment. He references a UK government report that “the creative industries in the UK alone are worth $85 billion and make up 9% of all UK jobs.
“The same report the following year (2016/17) found that the losses caused by IP crime to the UK economy alone were an estimated £9 billion. The UK is just one of seven European countries into which Sky supplies services or jobs, and the piracy being displayed by BeoutQ negatively affects many European countries and creators.”
He continues: “…the speed of proliferation of the illegal BeoutQ service is particularly alarming…”
It is a speed that FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino fuelled by their abject failure to protect their rights holders during Russia 2018. Infantino’s somewhat obsequious wooing of a $25 billion guarantee of predominantly Saudi Arabian cash for his new Club World Cup and Nations League competitions was likely the morally dubious motivation for that inaction, an inaction that has implications for all of football and sport.
The BBC in its letter, reported by the Guardian newspaper, also backs EU action.
“The availability of the BBC channels and content via BeoutQ’s pirate activity will adversely impact BBC Studios’ ability to license these channels to partners throughout Europe and also the ability of our European partners to sell subscriptions to their television services,” the letter says.
The storm of global condemnation of the Saudi’s in their support of BeoutQ has had little effect on the nation that has shown no remorse or regret for the state-sponsored murder of Saudi dissident and Wall Street Journal columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
In media rights terms the philosophy appears to be that if you can’t buy it, steal it. Football’s administrators generally need to be very careful who and why they take money. Some of them need to also be careful where they put it if current rumours are even proven to be true.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714131599labto1714131599ofdlr1714131599owedi1714131599sni@n1714131599osloh1714131599cin.l1714131599uap1714131599