A major illegal TV streaming platform known as Photocall, which boasted over 26 million users annually, has been successfully shut down. This closure is the result of a joint anti-piracy investigation conducted by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) and the sports entertainment service DAZN. The platform offered extensive unauthorized access to global television content, providing viewers with 1,127 TV channels originating from 60 different countries, including a significant amount of highly valuable live sports programming. This disruption marks a substantial victory for organizations dedicated to protecting intellectual property and copyrighted media.
Photocall’s immense popularity was widespread, attracting an international user base, with almost 30% of its annual visitors coming from Spain. Other key territories also made up a significant portion of its traffic, with Mexico accounting for over 13%, and Germany, Italy, and the United States each contributing approximately 6% of its total visitors. The service’s focus on international channels and premium content made it a major hub for content piracy across multiple continents, illustrating the global nature of this illegal operation and the challenge it posed to content creators and distributors worldwide.
Although the illegal service did not directly carry DAZN channels, it was confirmed to have been redistributing content belonging to DAZN’s partners, particularly major motor racing events like MotoGP and Formula 1. Oscar Vilda, CEO of DAZN Iberia, pointed out that the platform was also enabling users to view a wide range of other high-demand content. This included top-tier sports leagues such as Serie A, the NFL (National Football League), the NHL (National Hockey League), and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), alongside popular club-specific channels like Real Madrid TV and Barça TV.
The successful dismantling of the operation came after the platform’s operators were approached directly by the two anti-piracy groups. A settlement was reached, leading to the operators agreeing to permanently cease all illegal activities. As part of this agreement, all of Photocall’s domains were transferred to ACE. They have now been redirected to ACE’s “Watch Legally” website, guiding former users toward authorized viewing options. This targeted approach aligns with broader international efforts to combat digital piracy.
This announcement follows closely on the heels of a separate, large-scale law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol, which was specifically designed to disrupt digital piracy services across Europe. That wider operation managed to identify 69 piracy sites with a combined total of over 11.8 million annual visitors. Furthermore, it referred 25 illegal IPTV services to cryptocurrency providers to halt their funding, linked $55 million (over €47 million) in cryptocurrency to illegal streaming services, and initiated 44 new criminal investigations, demonstrating the increasing coordination against online content theft. ACE itself is a powerful anti-piracy coalition comprising more than 50 media and entertainment firms, including industry giants such as Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+, and Warner Bros Discovery.
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