More illegal IPTV services shut down

Recently, a family member asked about an illegal IPTV service. The family didn't realize that's what was being asked, and was slightly taken aback when I suggested as much.

Many people that are new to streaming don't realize what's legal and what's illegal. And the thing is, many people I know that don't realize the difference are actually pretty sharp people. They're just not familiar with everything.

If you're not sure, here's what I use to help determine if some service I've not heard of is an illegal IPTV service.

First, the fact I haven't heard of it is a good indicator. However, I make an effort to keep up to date on these things. If it was all new to me, would I know the difference? Maybe. Maybe not.

Next, is it "too good to be true?" If so, then it's not true. Ever buy a Rolex out of the trunk of someone's car? If so, do you think it was a real Rolex? Hint: it wasn't. The trunk of Mr. Bashir's car is not one of the authorized distribution channels. (Before you get your panties in a wad over that last sentence, I knew a Mr. Bashir that sold fake Rolex from the trunk of his car. So there.) Mr. Bashir's "Rolex" watches were not legitimate, and you can pretty much guarantee that an IPTV service that offers everything for a cheap price, or a one time fee, is not legitimate.

Then, some people really don't care if the service is legitimate or not. They just want to watch TV cheaply. After all, unlike Mr. Bashir's "Rolex" watches, the TV channels are real. The service is what's illegitimate. And what's wrong with wanting to save some money?

There is nothing wrong with wanting to save some money. But where do you draw the line? Would you walk into Walmart and shoplift because the company makes a lot of money and shoplifting is cheaper? No? When why would you steal TV service from someone?

Not the same thing? Really? Why not? They are legally entitled to receive compensation for their property aren't they? If you wrote a book, wouldn't it be wrong for someone else to copy it and sell those copies and not go through the proper publishing channels?

There are a lot of illegal IPTV services, and the content owners are pushing for crackdowns on them. This happened recently in Egypt:

In synchronized arrests on August 28 and 29, the Egyptian police and the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs took action against two operators of the ring of live sport, TV series and movie sites livehd7 and 3sktv in Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt. The ring of sites was logging an average of nearly 18M visits monthly, with most of the traffic coming from Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Police noted that the operators grossed nearly 1M USD from their illegal activities.

This operation follows two successful raids conducted earlier this year by the Egyptian authorities and demonstrates their continued commitment to combating digital piracy. In February, Egyptian police, in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs, took action against the operator of Egylive.online and five other domains in the region of Edkou, Egypt. The six domains combined averaged nearly 5.9 million monthly visits, with 2.3 million monthly unique visitors originating primarily from Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria.

My Streaming Life doesn't involve illegal services. But I'm not paying high prices for those services either. I can do without. And I'm always going to suggest that others avoid these illegal services. My family member was caught off-guard by my comment about it likely being an illegal service. I didn't mean to cause discomfort, but I'm going to offer my best suggestion at all times. And I always suggest avoiding piracy.