Despite a growing number of lawsuits, raids and seizures around the world, many pirated IPTV providers and resellers continue to offer their services to the masses.
At least in part, this may be a calculation based on the probability of being objective, much less identified and held to account. However, some of the most powerful entertainment companies in the world are continually on the prowl, looking for operations of greater importance and / or that represent easier fruits.
US-based IPTV providers AllAccessTV and Quality Restreams can now be added to this growing list.
Lawsuit for copyright infringement
In a new lawsuit filed in a California court, television and film giants Universal, Disney, Paramount, Warner and Columbia are joining Netflix, Amazon, Apple and several other studios against Texas resident Dwayne Anthony Johnson.
According to the plaintiffs, Johnson (and Does 1-20) are the brains behind the pirate providers AllAccessTV (AATV) and Quality Restreams.
The lawsuit alleges that AATV offers infringing movies and TV shows through its IPTV and VOD services, delivering content including The Godfather, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and The Office to consumers via smart televisions, computers, set-top boxes and mobile devices and tablets. .
Connected Enterprise Quality Restreams allegedly provides infringing content to other IPTV providers, including AATV, via live IPTV channels and a VOD service.
The AATV operation
Studies list multiple domains in their complaint, including aatvdigitalmedia.com, aatvpanel.com, allaccessiptv.com, qualityrestreams.com, and mediaflo.net. Also of interest are the domains linked to vpnsafevault.com.
According to the lawsuit, aatvdigitalmedia.com aatvpanel.com was previously used to offer subscriptions that cost between $ 10 and $ 45 per month. However, in an effort to hide the true nature of the business, AATV now uses vpnsafevault.com.
"This site is stripped of the entire AATV branding and is designed to appear to be selling VPN software to consumers," the complaint states, adding: "The defendants' actions are consistent with the intent to operate the AATV service. covertly because they know about the service. It's illegal. "
Lots of live channels and VOD content
Through the AATV platforms, it is alleged that more than 2,500 live television channels, including those owned by ABC, NBC, and Fox, as well as pay channels such as A&E, MTV, BET, SyFy, USA Network, and premium channels like HBO and Cinemax, they are offered to consumers.
However, in common with similar lawsuits filed by the same companies in the past, it is AATV's 24/7 channels (those that offer videos of a particular franchise in a continuous loop) that again help build a strong foundation for the complaint.
โThe Defendants '24/7 channels infringe not only the Plaintiffs' exclusive right of public performance, but also their exclusive right to reproduce their Copyrighted Works. Plaintiffs' copyrighted works must be illegally copied and stored in order to be broadcast on a channel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, โthe lawsuit reads.
"Defendants create these copies and as a result directly infringe Plaintiffs' reproduction rights, or Defendants knowingly contribute materially to or induce third parties to make those copies and thus second infringe reproduction rights Exclusive to Claimants ".
The same claims are directed against AATV's VOD service, which currently offers more than 600 movies and 600 television series for viewing on demand. These can be organized not only by genre, but also by officially licensed providers, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney +.
"The Defendants do not have licenses to use any Copyrighted Work through their VOD service, and therefore the Defendants 'VOD service infringes the Plaintiffs' exclusive rights of reproduction and public performance," the studios add. .
Quality Restreams Operation
According to the complaint, Quality Restreams has used various domains, including qualityrestreams.com, qsplaylist.com, qualitystreamz.guru, and qsprovider.com, to stream and provide content to other IPTV services. One such service, CosmosTV, obtained its content from an IP address registered on FDC servers in the United States.
The lawsuit also targets the domain mediaflo.net (which is allegedly used to serve IPTV content) and posts on IPTV forums, including IPTV.community, where Quality Restreams announced its product under the name DJ_Boxx. This appears to have helped the studies connect the dots regarding the identity of the service owner.
โAmong other things, Johnson is a registered administrator of VPN Safe Vault LLC, a company that bears a name that is virtually identical to the domain name. [vpnsafevault.com], the site through which Defendants currently sell AATV subscriptions. Furthermore, the username DJ_Boxx is connected to the Skype ID 'Dwayne.johnson34', and the date of birth in DJ_Boxx's profile also matches Johnson's date of birth, โthe complaint states.
Johnson is also said to be the registrant for myaatv.com at 23.237.94.34, the same IP address used by qsplaylist.com. This IP address is in the same range as The MediaBoxx, an entity owned and operated by Johnson.
"Johnson also ran a Facebook group for AATV resellers that had a virtually identical name, MediaBoxx Corporation confirming that Johnson owns and operates this infringing streaming service," the lawsuit adds.
Reseller network
Citing the defendants' claims on their own Facebook page, studies say that the AATV operation has a network of more than 600 "sales agents." The resell operation worked as a multi-level marketing scheme where AATV customers are rewarded for selling subscriptions to other potential customers.
โFor example, in 2020, if a recruit sold a subscription for $ 25 per month, the reseller who recruited him earned a commission of $ 10 for that sale. As a result, resellers are encouraged to hire as many people as possible to maximize their commissions. Resellers also get discounts on their own AATV subscriptions in exchange for customer referrals, โthe studies say.
The defendants also reportedly organized webinars to recruit resellers offering them the opportunity to "build a home business in the telecommunications space".
Illegal operation, unfair competition
Summing up their complaints, studies say that AATV's live streaming operation is not only illegal, but also unfairly competes with licensed streaming providers.
โThe result is unauthorized TV and movie content that is streamed over the Internet in a way that directly competes with and undermines licensed Internet and cable streaming services. Therefore, Defendants 'conduct also interferes with Plaintiffs' existing relationships with legitimate services that offer live television programming, โthey note.
The same goes for AATV's VOD and 24/7 offering.
โDefendants also compete illegally and unfairly with Plaintiffs' licensed and affiliated subscription VOD services, such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney +, iTunes, Apple TV +, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock and others, which have the rights to offer demand content, often exclusively, from their subscribers. "
Copyright infringement
The studios close on allegations of direct copyright infringement, contributing copyright infringement, and induction of copyright infringement, demanding the standard of $ 150,000 in legal damages for each intentionally infringed work.
They also require a comprehensive court order to prevent all AATVs and associated entities (including resellers) from infringing their rights in the future and an order to seize the domains of the operation.
The complaint can be found here (pdf)
