The recent 2026 FIFA World Cup competitions were carried by broadcasters and distributors worldwide. In more than 60 countries, site-blocking regulation targeting pirate distributors (while imperfect) is the law. The US is not one of those countries.
On June 4, 2026, TelevisaUnivision Inc and Televisa S. de R.L. de C.V., filed a complaint in the US District Court in Southern Florida against a group of defendants operating many known piracy sites, requesting a preliminary injunction so that their illegal distribution would be blocked before the first World Cup matches took place on June 11.
In response, a temporary restraining order was granted a day later, on June 5; and the sites identified there were blocked as part of Operation Offsides.
But it took more than seven weeks before a preliminary injunction was issued by the Florida federal cour, on July 24. A preliminary injunction is a temporary court order issued before or during a trial to freeze actions and protect the status quo until the court can make a final decision on the merits of the case. As of this writing, no lawsuit has been filed and threfore, no trial is yet scheduled.
The “Infringing IPTV Services” and “Associated Infringing IPTV Services” identified in Schedule A … (including all IP addresses, domains, applications, and server infrastructure listed therein), and any comparable system — meaning any device, application, data transmission service, or platform, whether currently in existence or developed in the future, through which Defendants or those acting in concert or participation with them provide users with unauthorized access to Plaintiffs’ copyrighted programming or 2026 FIFA World Cup content, including by means of any Internet-based transmission, peer-to-peer or BitTorrent protocol, content delivery technology, or sideloading mechanism, regardless of the branding, domain name, or technical configuration used. Plaintiffs’ investigation into the unauthorized activities is continuing and Plaintiffs are in communication with (additional) third-party service providers…” shall immediately disable access and further distribution, copying or storage.
Schedule A is an approximately 28 page listing of domains, site addresses, IP addresses, CDNs and CDN caching services, hosting companies, domain registrars, associated DNS services, and proxy services.
This also applies to:
“Those in active concert and participation with Defendants and those with notice of the injunction, including without limitation Internet Service Providers (ISPs); web hosts; Internet infrastructure support entities; content delivery network providers; reverse proxy services; cloud service providers, infrastructure-as-a-service providers; bare-metal and dedicated server providers; encoding, transcoding, and signal-capture service providers; middleware and IPTV panel management platforms (including but not limited to Stalker/Ministra Pro and comparable systems); sideloading facilitation applications and their distribution platforms; advertising networks and programmatic ad exchanges; website owners and operators; social media owners and operators; telecommunications app owners or operators; app stores; payment processing and other financial services companies; Internet search engines, domain-name registrars, and domain name registries and/or their administrators that are provided with notice of the injunction…”
Why it matters
These proceedings illustrate the cumbersome process of identifying and escalating a case – manually – for law enforcement and for legal action. In many other countries, this process is becoming standardized and in some countries, it is being automated – such as in Italy, where the media regulator operates the Piracy Shield ticketing and notification system and requires ISPs and online intermediaries to block domains within 30 minutes. The European Union recently recommended Piracy Shield as a model for other EU members to follow.
Further reading
Order. TelevisaUnivision Inc and Televisa S. de R.L. de C.V, v Luis Fermín gil Alhand, et al. Document 43. Case 1:26-cv-23911-KMW. July 24, 2026. US District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Complaint. TelevisaUnivision Inc and Televisa S. de R.L. de C.V, vLUIS FERMÍN GIL ALPHAND; EDGAR CRISTIAN OLVERA SALAZAR; INNDOMANAGEMENT S.A.P.I. de C.V.; ENZU LLC; JUAN ANTONIO LÓPEZ GARCÍA; JOSE LUIS GUADARRAMA TORRES; ALBERTO GARCÍA LEAL; DASH NETWORKS INC.; DIGITALOCEAN, LLC; HOSTGATOR.COM LLC; and, JOHN DOES 1-20. Document 1. Case 1:26-cv-23911-KMW. July 24, 2026. US District Court for the Southern District of Florida
EU Assessment: Rapid piracy blocking comes up short for sports and broadcast. Article. July 30, 2026. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor
