The Web site Reddit has banned a subreddit called “IPTV Resellers” from the Reddit platform, “for violating the Reddit rules,” according to a report by Cord Cutters News which in turn cites other sources.
However, a still operational subreddit called r/piracy has running dialogs between people who desire and enable piracy.
Read Reddit’s Content Policy, which prohibits content that “is illegal” or “Uses Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transction or gift involving prohibited goods or services,” which mentions “fraudulent services.”
Reddit does provide a page for takedown requests, which enable parties who identify infringing content on Reddit to report it and request that Reddit remove the content from its site.
Why it matters
Reports like this seem to be hopeful signs in the fight against piracy, but the devil lurks in the details.
For example, an unofficial site called reddit.guide lists pages of other subreddits used to promote illegal streaming. Some of these subreddits are listed as banned or private, while other subreddits dedicated to show as active and have tens of thousands of followers. Many are legitimate (Plex, Kodi, Xbox…) but are unintentional havens for people promoting or seeking piracy workarounds.
Also, after reporting on Reddit, a source referenced by Cord Cutters News proceeded to describe how the pirate “IPTV” reseller model works.
