Two pirate operators in Thailand were shut down after joint efforts by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), True Visions, a major Thai pay TV operator, and Thai police. The domains were pglivetv.com and we-play.live.
The 37 year old operator of the pglivetv.com pirate application and Web site, which were available by subscription, was arrested after a search warrent was executed by the Economic Crimes Division (ECD) of the Thai Police. The application had been in operation since 2021 and provided access to live channels (including live sports), movies and other video-on-demand content.
The pirate’s Web site, pglivetv.com, was taken out of service.
A number of devices and documents were seized at the residence and operator subsequently made full admissions to the Police. According to ACE, a second search warrant action took place at the premises of World Internetwork Corporation, a Bangkok-based hosting service provider, where a number of servers were seized in connection with pglivetv.com.
WE-PLAY.LIVE
Another Thailand-operated piracy operation, We-Play.live, was shut down; also in a collaborative effort between ACE, True Visions and Thai police. The 26 year old operator of the site has been arrested and will be prosecuted for copyright and ancillary criminal offences.
The site provided illicit access to both sports and entertainment content, and had been operational for more than four years with average monthly global visits of 2.8 million. The Thailand Police Economic Suppression Department estimated that the website caused more than USD 1.4 million in damages per month to the local and international content industries. The site illegally monetized both subscription fees as well as advertising revenues from illicit gambling forums and websites.
Visitors to the domain we-play.live are presented with a generic domain renewal screen.
Read the ACE press releases
For pglivetv.com: Thai Police Close Down Illicit IPTV Service (ACE, June 8, 2022)
For we-play.live: ACE Shuts Down Major Website in Thailand (ACE, June 8, 2022)
Why it matters
ACE has stepped up international enforcement efforts on behalf of its members, which are major producers of movie and television content, and major distributors.
