In an eye-opening chain of events, a China-based company representing the pirate site MagisTV applied for the trademark for Ecuador’s LigaPro football (soccer) championships; on August 8, 2024.
Less than a week earlier, on August 3, a judge for the Judicial Unit of Criminal Guarantees with Competence in Flagrant Crimes in Guayaquil issued a blocking order against eight Web domains that were distributing LigaPro illegally, including Magis TV. At the time, LigaPro was entering its second round of 2024 championship matches.
That judge had also decreed the blocking of 24 IP addresses, although some reports said that more than 180 addresses were ordered to be suspended.
The August 3 orders were response to a complaint filed by Servicios de Telecommunicaciones Setel, which has exclusive audiovisual rights to distribute LigaPro championship programming.
The blocked Web sites were:
- xc.softonic.com/android.
- futbollibretv.pe
- tele-latino.net
- rojadirectaenvivo.pl
- MagisTV.video.
- IPTV Smarters Player
- Tele Latino (Joel)
- The New Era TV (distributed via Facebook).
Unauthorized retransmission of copyright-protected audiovisual content in Ecuador carries a jail sentence of six months to one year, and up to 300 basic salaries (equivlent to US$138,000).
Brazen pirate trying to assume a legitimate identity?
Days after the domain- and IP-address-blocking decree, one of the piracy domains listed in the order, a company called Shenzhen Geshan Technology which represents Magis TV, was reported by an Ecuadorian news outlet as attempting to register the trademark for the LigaPro league with Ecuador’s intellectual property rights service (Senadi).
In response, LigaPro, the National Professional Football League, DirecTV Ecuador and Paramount Pictures filed an opposition to the trademark application.
Piracy Monitor will provide updates: the involved parties have 30 days to present evidence.
Further reading
LigaPro raises an appeal to prevent MagisTV from being registered as a legal trademark in Ecuador. Article (en Español). August 8, 2024. Primicias (Ecuador)
Judge orders the blocking of 8 websites and 24 IP addresses for illegal LigaPro broadcasts. Article (en Español). by Patricia Gonzalez. August 9, 2024. Primicias (Ecuador)
Why it matters
While there may have been other instances of a piracy operation attempting to legitimize themselves by applying for the trademark of a legitimate organization, Piracy Monitor has never heard of one.
Otherwise, the judge’s domain and IP-address blocking order is a relatively standard response to a trademark violation complaint by a media company against a piracy operation.
