Google forced to act on IPTV services after Sky request in latest clear warning to football fans

Google has removed the websites of several illegal IPTV services from its search results following a notice from Sky Sports - in the latest clear warning to football fans about illegal streaming.

IPTV, which stands for Internet Protocol Television, technology has been used to provide customers with online access to stream premium content without permission from legitimate providers.

The technology uses Internet Protocol, or broadband services, to deliver the TV content.

The Premier League, Sky Sports and TNT Sports have been cracking down on illegal IPTV services in recent years.

Earlier this week, two men from Worcestershire were handed suspended prison sentences and community service orders for running an illegal streaming service that had almost 4,000 paying subscribers.

The pair ran the 'Titan Streams' service, which allowed subscribers to watch BT Sport (TNT Sports) and Sky Sports programmes.

And a YouTube star was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for running one of the largest TV piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the US government.

He was also forced to forfeit $30 million in assets, with the material provided by the service stolen from legitimate sources.

Now, Sky have decided to take strong action of their own against IPTV services.

In a notice dated April 23 (via TorrentFreak), Sky sent a list of 12 domains to Google, which were all related to IPTV services, as part of a court order.

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All the services in question, TorrentFreak add, were linked to a High Court injunction issued last year.

They have all been removed from UK search results, although the sites themselves were still accessible in the UK at the time of writing.

Google's actions, though, means that rights holders now have an extra step of action they can take to prevent illegal IPTV services.

In August 2023, Sky obtained a piracy-blocking order from the High Court, which specifically named six IPTV websites.