Saudi Arabia: Pirates illegally streaming beIN

[Len]

If there can be a ‘beIN’ sports offering then it could be logical that someone might offer a ‘beOUT’ alternate. The problem is that Saudi Arabian-based ‘beoutQ’ is streaming beIN’s exclusive sports content in Saudi Arabia – and elsewhere – without permission.

Qatar-based (and currently not having the best diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia) beIN holds TV and web-rights to a myriad of sports for 43 countries. Saudi Arabia is one of its most important markets. It is now joining with 10 other rights-holders (including FIFA, LaLiga and many other high-profile organisations) to hit ‘beoutQ’ and demanding is that the authorities take actions locally on the illegal re-transmissions.

beIN says it has formally written twice to the correct Saudi Arabian authority but has yet to receive a reply.

Yousef Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO at beIN Media, according to Inside World Football, said: “beIN Media takes a zero tolerance approach to audiovisual piracy in all its forms and we hope that the Saudi authorities will honour Saudi domestic laws and Saudi Arabia’s international legal obligations to enforce intellectual property rights.”

On its website, beoutQ cheekily says it is only re-streaming material that is already being illegally streamed; “We do not host any video content on this site. All copyrighted content to their respective owners. We encourage all copyright owners to recognise that the links on this site are located elsewhere on the web. The embedded link refers to the video website. Please direct all copyright infringement issues to the companies that host these files and not to publish them.”

The pirate site also says that it has links to Colombian and Cuban sites, and that it adheres to the laws of those two countries, and that it is against what it describes as “exclusive monopolies”.