“The legislation is in its infancy”

The issue of piracy has never been as hot as these days. The flame has lit it Javier Tebaswhich is committed to adopting legal measures with everyone who consumes its product – the League– without paying, that is, resorting to web pages that steal the content – ​​the matches – and broadcast it for free over Internet. A few months ago, when the president of the Spanish championship raised his voice about this mess, the threat for many people was real, as he assured that he planned to pursue the IP of anyone who used these practices to watch football on Spain.

However, “the legislation” in this sense “is in its infancy.” This statement is sung Placido Rodriguezhonorary professor emeritus of the Department of Economics of the University of Oviedo and president of Sporting Gijón for three years (1989-1992), which also maintains the highest percentage of victories in First Division of the Asturian team. The former director and important member of the Spanish Society of Sports Economics (SEED) attends OKDIARIO to shed light on the reality of piracy in soccer in our country.

The main question posed by this newspaper is whether it is impossible to pursue the direction IP (number that identifies a network interface of any device connected to it) of anyone who uses piracy to watch the matches, which is precisely Tebas’ intention to address one of its biggest concerns. “It is quite clear that yes,” responds Plácido Rodríguez, who also adds that “this legislation is still in its infancy.”

«It is very difficult. That at a certain moment I don’t know what will happen to a piracy user in two months or five years, but if there is a user who enters a platform that is offering that match, who is going to know? The telephone companies? But, who is going to sue for a League match that maybe costs five euros? “asks the professor.

The fear letter of Thebes against piracy

His question makes a lot of sense because Tebas even coined the concept of the ‘fear card’. «The theme is simple. The commercial court of Barcelona “has decreed in an order that all telecommunications in this country are obliged to give the League the clients who contact a series of IP addresses that the League with its anti-piracy team will provide,” Tebas said last April.

A conciliation demand is filed against a user, who has been identified by his IP because “it has been possible to corroborate that from his internet network (.) connections have been made to the pirate platform (.) from which access was provided …» pic.twitter.com/Y7M52Jd4iX

— David Maeztu (@davidmaeztu) June 7, 2024

His threat was not in vain and he requested 450.16 euros from several anonymous users through that letter of fear for having consumed the League without permission and for free. The lawyer David Maeztu revealed that the organization chaired by Tebas was sending these letters demanding said amount as compensation for damages related to illicit access to the contents.

«It seems that the threats are materializing. We will see, but it is very worrying that through a February order communications are being monitored in April, this does not make sense and it would be good for the operators to explain how this is possible,” Maeztu began in an argumentative thread that he made through the networks. social.

The version of the expert in the economy of sports confirms that no matter how many threats are made in the foreground, it is totally impossible at this point to avoid fining anyone who continues to consume piratedly. The reliable proof is that piracy data, far from having decreased in recent months, continues to rise in Spain.

Plácido Rodríguez elevates Spanish football to the Olympus

Rodríguez also wondered if the telephone companies were going to help Tebas with this world strategy, since it is really the only possible way to, in the future, end this problem that is a real pain for the president of the League. Plácido sees it as “logical” that if someone can “access a pirate platform at zero cost” they will not subscribe “regardless of the price.”

The former president of Sporting also values ​​the quality of Spanish football, the kind that led the Spanish team to lift the Euro Cup in Germany this summer. That greatness has also made piracy an attractive product, although lately looking at audience data, Tebas’ policies have caused many clubs to devalue themselves. “From my point of view, in recent years, sport has had a very large media presence,” begins Plácido Rodríguez in his conclusion.

«And it’s not just the traditional events of Olympics or world championships, FIFA or of Champions Leaguebut there is a certain tendency in society to watch sports. Nowadays we see more sports competitions than TV news. Well, where are the people or the pirates then? They are not going to rob a fishing boat, they are clearly going to rob the one who comes with the gold America», referring to the provider of these contents.

«It can be understood as a metaphor or an image of what may be happening with sport and luckily for sport this has no end (the attraction of sport). “Football is the niche of potential zero-price seekers,” he concluded about piracy on a more general level.