League sends letters demanding payment to football fans who accessed illegal IPTV streams after finding 'loophole'
A major European league has sent letters out to fans seeking payment for using a streaming service to watch matches.
La Liga, the Spanish top flight, has been making the demands to supporters who have used an IPTV to watch games.
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television and allows people to watch video services online.
According to a report from Xataka, a court issued a ruling which allowed La Liga to request individual users' IP addresses and details who have accessed these services illegally.
Advert
The move has allowed the Spanish top flight to find a 'legal loophole' to send letters to fans and demand hundreds of Euros for using and IPTV to watch games.
The letters ask for around €261, but there are suggestions La Liga is asking for up to €450 in some cases.
The letter from La Liga seeking payment reads: "Each participant who illegally accesses live viewing contributes to the illegal retransmission and rebroadcasting of the content for other users, improving the structure of the network and increasing the quality of viewing of the content for all users."
Whenever a letter is sent from an official body or organisation demanding the payment of something for an alleged illegal act, the normal course of action would be to explore paying this.
However, a lawyer has now made it clear that there is no obligation for any fan who is contacted with one of these letters to respond to it at all, or pay the amount which is requested of them, though they may do so voluntarily, but to seek legal guidance before they choose to do anything.
Javier Prenafeta, a lawyer at 451.legal, told the publication: "The option is up to the user, as the conciliation is voluntary.
"For users who receive these communications, I think the main thing is that they understand that conciliation is voluntary, that they are being asked questions that they can answer or not, since the act of conciliation is voluntary as I say, and that the effect of acknowledging the activity, as the questions are formulated, can bring about more consequences than paying that amount.
"It would be acknowledging that they are giving access to illegal content, which could fall under the penal code. So the most advisable thing is that they consult with a lawyer."
John McDougall