Clampdown on TV 'Dodgy Boxes'

Outside of the busiest pubs, I don't think any pub would benefit. Many pubs don't have Sky (or similiar) and would have to pay an arm and a leg for sports coverage.

it wouldnt surprise me if theres now hundreds of millions of illegal subs across the planet now, the fact that its so relatively easy to setup iptv, and for relatively small change, this is clearly well out of control now, with very little that can be actually done about it, i think rights holders have an extremely serious problem on their hands now

I dunno, I went to the pub to watch the champions league final and i heard Ronnie Whelan talking on Rte. Tk god i couldnt really hear him as it was busy in the pub. Himself and Stephen Kelly are terrible to listen too.

No way much prefer RTE than McCoist and co on TNT absolute ball aches

Based on advances we've seen in in tech in the last few year, I think the future of illegal streaming via IPTV is going to be a very changeable situation with a high-stakes AI arms race.

The biggest cause of this, as has been discussed here at length, as I see it is the fracturing of the legit streamers forcing consumers to be frustrated with increased hassle, time and expense.

While enforcement tech has become incredibly sophisticated, piracy also has undergone a massive structural shift. Its gone from a fringe tech hobby into a mainstream, corporate style utility. The high-seas bandits have adopted enterprise level tech using using AI driven scrapers to harvest streaming links, instantly cloning takedown targeted websites or autogenerating subtitles.

In turn, the streamers & broadcasters are using court approved dynamic injunctions block the IP addresses of pirated streams in real time during live broadcasts. But if a streaming domain gets nerfed, a bot network can often deploy a mirror site across a new domain in less than half an hour from what Ive read….and on goes the whack a mole.

I think we will continue to see IPTV services become more unstable as streams randomly freeze or drop during high traffic events (think World Cup) with active anti-piracy DDoS style actions.

So what does this all mean? In my view piracy will not be curtailed while the economic and structural incentivs for consumers to bypass fragmented streaming platforms remain high. I think consolidation in the form of aggregation will increase as we are starting to see a little bit now eg the bundling of services like Sky Disney & Netflix for a single payment. But costs are still too high.

But I dont think illegal streaming will expand rapidly either. The era of easy cheap, stable, plug and play illegal IPTV is changing as users face increasing friction. Streams cutting out mid-match, payment portals suddenly vanishing or users losing access to paid subs without recourse, and the constant need to update configurations or switch providers.

But I dont think illegal streaming will expand rapidly either. The era of easy cheap, stable, plug and play illegal IPTV is changing as users face increasing friction. Streams cutting out mid-match, payment portals suddenly vanishing or users losing access to paid subs without recourse, and the constant need to update configurations or switch providers.

Shhhh......

I think that back in the 1990s FACT lso recruited from the same ex-law enforcement pool.

Last month, hundreds of dodgy-box users across Ireland received a formal warning letter from Sky through the post. The letter requested recipients to sign a document, committing to a 'legally binding promise' to cease using any Internet Protocol TV service, cautioning that 'firm action' could be taken against those who refuse to comply.

I very much doubt that is factual.
The minimum requirement for such reports should be that it is factual and not something imagined.
The same applies to all those reports, and videos claiming reception of such streams is "stealing".
No it is not, as anyone with any sense can determine.

What goods were stolen?