While IPTV users have not yet had much to fear given that the rights holders mainly attacked the distributors of these pirate subscriptions, pressure is now mounting for fans of illegal streaming. After the state fines, it is now Serie A itself which sends the bill to illegal subscribers. And in France, the signal is clear, the trend could well arrive here soon.
The situation is already very complicated for Italian subscribers. Last May, the Guardia di Finanza announced that 2,282 subscribers to pirate IPTV services were fined in 80 Italian provinces. This data came from a criminal investigation that dismantled an illegal IPTV network, leaving behind a database of subscribers immediately exploited by the authorities. Fines started at 154 euros and could rise to 5,000 euros in the event of a repeat offense..
But the bad news didn’t stop there for these subscribers. In the fall of 2025, DAZN sent letters to many of these already sanctioned users, offering to settle a civil damages claim of 500 euros, in addition to the fine already received.
The Italian Championship goes on the offensive
In January, the CEO of the Italian football championship, Luigi De Siervo, announced that lawyers had sent around 2,000 letters to previously identified people, claiming 1,000 euros each as compensation for the damage caused by their illegal streaming.
« Those who use pezzotto or illegally watch matches via apps, pirated IPTVs or VPNs should know that they will be identified, will have to pay fines of up to 5,000 euros provided for by law, and above all will be required to pay an additional 1,000 euros to Serie A as compensation. Piracy is theft, period. »
When will French subscribers receive fines?
The Italian situation necessarily appeals to rights holders who would like to set up a similar deterrent system in France. On June 10, 2025, the Senate adopted a law establishing a new offense of aggravated audiovisual piracy, mainly targeting illegal IPTV service providersnow punishable by three years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros, also with one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros for any promotion of these pirate services.
On the user side, the legal qualification is severe on paper. The use of pirate IPTV is punishable by article 321-1 of the Penal Code, which characterizes it as concealment of counterfeiting, theoretically exposing you to three years in prison and a maximum fine of 375,000 euros.. In practice, in 2024, Arcom blocked nearly 2,000 illegal sites and 232 users were sanctioned, with fines ranging from 90 to 1,000 euros. Suffice it to say that the harshest sanctions seem to be rarely applied.
For the moment, the French strategy remains more focused on blocking than on individual sanctions. For the moment, the risk of direct fine remains low for French subscribers, unlike Italy. The main risk remains the interruption of the service in the middle of a match, and theoretically prosecutions for concealment of counterfeiting if an investigation targets the reseller and seizes its customer files.
The Italian model, where rights holders obtain a list of subscribers from criminal proceedings and then send their own civil invoices, remains the most feared scenario. Nothing legally prevents it from being reproduced in France if a similar investigation resulted in the seizure of a customer database.
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