Official Confirmation from Movistar: The Million-Dollar Fine No One Expected

Movistar has received good news regarding the fight against piracy. The Provincial Court of Alicante is judging two men accused of an alleged crime against intellectual property. Apparently, they had distributed Movistar's television channel signals over the internet illegally.

This event has caused a great impact. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the accused could face a severe financial penalty, reports ABC.

The trial, held last Tuesday, February 11, highlighted the extent of the economic damage caused to Movistar. The accused, after replicating Movistar's signal, enabled an undetermined number of people to illegally access the platform's exclusive content.

In this type of illegal practices, the main victim is the operator. It sees its content being distributed without receiving the corresponding revenue for its television services.

The Fine of More Than 6 Million Already Known at Movistar

The Public Prosecutor's Office has requested a multimillion-euro fine for the accused, which would exceed 6.5 million euros. This figure is based on the concept of "civil liability." It means that it is the estimated amount that Movistar failed to receive due to the piracy of its channels by the defendants.

It is a very significant amount that reflects not only the value of the operator's pay television. Also the effort made to protect intellectual property rights against the illegal distribution of content.

The case is generating great interest, as Movistar is one of the main players in the pay television market in Spain. This financial penalty could set an important precedent in the fight against piracy. The fact that the accused allowed thousands of users to irregularly access exclusive content demonstrates the magnitude of the problem.

The Impact of Piracy on the Television Market

This case against those responsible for the illegal distribution of Movistar's signal comes just after a major blow to piracy in the sports field. LaLiga, in an effort to end the illegal distribution of sports content, managed to deactivate the DuckVision platform. It provided access to more than 200,000 people in Spain.

This type of pirate platforms not only affects Movistar. It also affects other providers of exclusive content and the sports industry in general.

Piracy has become a serious problem for companies like the Telefónica operator. They invest large amounts of money to offer quality content to their customers. But the proliferation of illegal networks that distribute these contents directly affects their revenue and the quality of the service.