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The US government has named Saudi Arabia on its Priority Watch List amid ongoing pressure from several national sports bodies and international broadcasters to bring down the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released two reports condemning the Saudi-based piracy operation, and call out the country for its failure to protect intellectual property (IP).
A USTR statement read: ‘BeoutQ, an illicit service for pirated content whose signal is reportedly carried by Saudi Arabia-based satellite provider Arabsat, continues to be widely available in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East and Europe.
‘While Saudi officials have confirmed the illegal nature of BeoutQ’s activities and claim to be addressing this issue by seizing BeoutQ set-top boxes, such devices nevertheless continue to be widely available and are generally unregulated in Saudi Arabia.
‘Saudi Arabia also has not taken sufficient steps to address the purported role of Arabsat in facilitating BeoutQ’s piracy activities.’
Saudi Arabia is included in the USTR’s ‘2019 Special 301 Report’, which identifies governments that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property around the world.
Meanwhile, in its ‘2019 Special 301 Report’, the USTR has also placed Saudi Arabia on the Priority Watch List, for its ‘failure to address longstanding IP concerns and the further deterioration of IP protection and enforcement within its borders’.
The US government intervention arrives in conjunction with calls made by the UK government to investigate widespread piracy of live sports content in Saudi Arabia following calls to protect British companies that have fallen victim to BeoutQ.
In the ‘2018 Notorious Markets List’, BeoutQ was one of 33 online platforms blacklisted by the USTR, underlining its ‘unprecedented sophistication’ as both a satellite and a streaming pirate.
Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the USTR’s latest reports followed a detailed submission made by BeIN Media and Miramax in February, including 138 pages of description and evidence.
The move came a week after BeIN Sports announced that the Qatar-based broadcaster had opted not to renew its five-year contract with Formula One in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as a stand against BeoutQ, which has been stealing BeIN’s content for more than a year.
The pirate broadcaster is also subject of a US$1 billion international investment arbitration BeIN brought against Saudi Arabia last October.
BeIN chief executive Yousef Al-Obaidly said: “These latest developments in the global fight against BeoutQ are hugely significant, as they represent a critically important public call by the US Government – and a direct call for the UK Government – to intervene with the Saudi Government to stop the continued daily theft of the commercial rights of the most famous and valuable brands in US and UK sports and entertainment.
“With the European Commission also fully aware of the matter and the World Trade Organization having established a dispute settlement panel to investigate it, the weight of the international community is coming to bear on Saudi Arabia to stop breaking the rule of law and to end its safe haven for piracy that has now spread across the Middle East, Europe, the US and around the world.”
The US government has named Saudi Arabia on its Priority Watch List amid ongoing pressure from several national sports bodies and international broadcasters to bring down the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released two reports condemning the Saudi-based piracy operation, and calling out the country for its failure to protect intellectual property (IP).
A USTR statement read: ‘BeoutQ, an illicit service for pirated content whose signal is reportedly carried by Saudi Arabia-based satellite provider Arabsat, continues to be widely available in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East and Europe.
‘While Saudi officials have confirmed the illegal nature of BeoutQ’s activities and claim to be addressing this issue by seizing BeoutQ set-top boxes, such devices nevertheless continue to be widely available and are generally unregulated in Saudi Arabia.
‘Saudi Arabia also has not taken sufficient steps to address the purported role of Arabsat in facilitating BeoutQ’s piracy activities.’
Saudi Arabia is included in the USTR’s ‘2019 Special 301 Report’, which identifies governments that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property around the world.
Meanwhile, in its ‘2019 Special 301 Report’, the USTR has also placed Saudi Arabia on the Priority Watch List, for its ‘failure to address longstanding IP concerns and the further deterioration of IP protection and enforcement within its borders’.
The US Government intervention arrives in conjunction with calls made by the UK government to investigate widespread piracy of live sports content in Saudi Arabia following calls to protect British companies that have fallen victim to BeoutQ.
In the ‘2018 Notorious Markets List’, BeoutQ was one of 33 online platforms blacklisted by the USTR, underlining its ‘unprecedented sophistication’ as both a satellite and a streaming pirate.
Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the USTR’s latest reports followed a detailed submission made by BeIN Media and Miramax in February, including 138 pages of description and evidence.
The move came a week after BeIN Sports announced that the Qatar-based broadcaster had opted not to renew its five-year contract with Formula One in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as a stand against BeoutQ, which has been stealing BeIN’s content for more than a year.
The pirate broadcaster is also subject of a US$1 billion international investment arbitration BeIN brought against Saudi Arabia last October.
BeIN chief executive Yousef Al-Obaidy said: “These latest developments in the global fight against BeoutQ are hugely significant, as they represent a critically important public call by the US Government – and a direct call for the UK Government – to intervene with the Saudi Government to stop the continued daily theft of the commercial rights of the most famous and valuable brands in US and UK sports and entertainment.
“With the European Commission also fully aware of the matter and the World Trade Organization having established a dispute settlement panel to investigate it, the weight of the international community is coming to bear on Saudi Arabia to stop breaking the rule of law and to end its safe haven for piracy that has now spread across the Middle East, Europe, the US and around the world.”
