DAZN Letters to IPTV Pirates Demand €500, Compliance in 7 Days – Or Else

Everyone accepts that pirate suppliers are responsible for redistributing and profiting from content they don’t own and for that there could be a heavy price to pay. Yet when punishments for ordinary people enter the equation, that’s a completely different ball game.

Targeting suppliers of pirated content has a straightforward end game; make them stop, make them pay, and when the situation demands it, use the best cases as a public deterrent and hope something sticks. In broad terms, there’s very little calibration required in respect of how much force to use. Whatever it takes within the parameters of the law will usually do just fine and if pirates get upset, nobody will lose a moment’s sleep over it.

When targeting members of the public, who provide the revenue that allow companies to even exist, new and unpredictable risks are introduced to the business against its most valuable assets; branding and reputation. A miscalculation leading to damage in this part of a business could even undermine its ability to bounce back.

Many companies have tried to navigate the sue-your-own-customers minefield, few if any have made it across completely unscathed. None have subsequently reported that suing potential customers was the missing ingredient that triggered a sudden growth in business.

Italy: Hold My Beer

With years of experience pursuing commercially-motivated groups on the supply-side, last month DAZN, SKY and Serie A announced that they were ready to take action against consumers of pirated content. Having gained access to a list of individuals already fined by the state, for the offense of subscribing to an illegal IPTV service previously shut down by police, DAZN said it would target the same individuals directly.

The plan, the company said, was to request compensation for damages suffered by the company due to the subscriber’s use of the illegal service. True to its word, DAZN letters began arriving with at least some of those individuals this week. DAZN reportedly obtained the names and addresses of 2,200 people. Whether the company intends to contact them all is unclear.

On social media, many recipients shared various images of what appear to be identical letters. For clarity, an adjusted composite of those images appears below in the original Italian, with the translation directly after.

Letter from DAZN received this week (composite)

Translated text:

Subject: Illegal acquisition of IPTV services relating to packages for viewing live Serie A soccer matches

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Dear Madam/Sir, in the context of criminal proceeding no. 7719/22 RGNR, filed with the Lecce Public Prosecutor’s Office, we have been able to ascertain that you unlawfully acquired the subject matter, in violation of the broadcasting rights (audiovisual rights, pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 9/2008) which belong exclusively to the undersigned Dazn Limited (“DAZN”), as licensee.

As a consequence of your unlawful conduct, a specific administrative sanction has been imposed on you by the Guardia di Finanza. DAZN, the injured party, was notified of the investigations carried out against you by the competent unit of the Guardia di Finanza on September 5.

Before undertaking legal action for compensation and protection, with a consequent increase in costs, DAZN intends to verify the possibility of a settlement of the incident, with a lump sum compensation payment of Euro 500.00 and your formal commitment not to engage in any further conduct that infringes the undersigned’s rights in the future.

Should you wish to proceed in this way, you may contact DAZN via the dedicated certified email address: [email protected]. This option will expire 7 (seven) days after receipt of this letter, and DAZN will then be free to initiate appropriate legal proceedings without further notice.

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Kind regards

The text is mostly self-explanatory but still likely to cause concern, primarily among those whose financial position means they simply can’t pay, even if they wanted to.

Breakdown

The letter begins with an attempt to completely undermine the recipient’s position by suggesting they have no defense. By citing a criminal action in which DAZN claims that the recipient has already been found guilty, there’s no presumption of innocence because the police have already determined otherwise.

A clear demand for a fixed sum as compensation offers a predictable outcome, in contrast to the uncertainty of non-compliance and unspecified rising costs. For those undecided about which course of action to take, the 7-day deadline exists to artificially inject urgency into settling a dispute already many months old.

For those who really can’t pay, there may be a temptation to email the company within the 7-day deadline to ensure the offer remains on the table. Whether that would be the right choice without first obtaining legal advice, is a luxury reserved for those who actually have access to the money.

In summary, recipients are guilty, have no defense, and there’s very little time to prevent a bad situation from getting worse. Or they could simply pay €500, promise not to hurt the company again, and everything goes back to normal.

No Real Surprises

The same tactics have appeared in all kinds of campaigns over the years but in this case, a couple of potentially interesting differences catch the eye.

Letters demanding compensation tend to have more impact when the recipient’s name appears at the top; ‘Dear sir/madam’ may feel less personal although in this case may be due to convenience and keeping costs under control. Lawyers tend to be quite expensive and at this stage, aren’t an absolute requirement.

That brings us to the final observation. Receiving a formal letter from DAZN’s lawyers may be perceived as even more ominous, but this is a letter carrying the name and signature of Stefano Azzi, the company’s CEO in Italy. It’s an intriguing choice that signals personal commitment from the very top, from a man who understands consumers better than most.

Time will tell if the payoff was worth the additional risk. According to reports, SKY could be preparing something similar.