“Three years in prison and blocking in 30 minutes”: Arcom deploys a radical arsenal against pirate IPTV in France

While 2024 marked the year of repression for illegal IPTV platformsthe National Assembly has just received a report which marks a turning point in the war against piracy. Commissioned by the cultural affairs committee at theArcom in June 2025, this 62-page document, which can be consulted in the source, draws up an implacable observation: despite encouraging results, the current systems are no longer enough.

Illicit practices are changing faster than institutional responses are adapting. Faced with this observation, the regulatory authority is recommending a radical overhaul of its arsenal, inspired by the harshest models in Europe.

A mixed record despite undeniable successes

The figures demonstrate real but insufficient progress. Since 2009, the graduated response procedure inherited from the Hadopi laws has reduced peer-to-peer use by 80%, going from 8.3 million Internet users to 1.3 million in 2025.

There 2021 reformwhich gave Arcom new prerogatives against mirror sites and pirate sports broadcasts, made it possible to reduce the overall audience of illicit services by 35% between 2021 and 2025. More than 13,000 domain names have been blocked since 2022including 896 in the first three quarters of 2025 alone. The combined actions of the regulator and the justice system have reduced illicit consumption to its lowest level ever measured.

However, 1 in 4 French Internet users continue to illegally consume cultural and sporting content. Streaming and direct downloading now concern 80% of pirates, compared to 23% in 2009. Above all, illicit IPTV is experiencing a meteoric explosion: 11% of French Internet users use it, and two thirds of its users took the plunge less than three years ago.

These illegal IPTV services offer, for a few dozen euros per year, access to thousands of channels and tens of thousands of on-demand content, rebroadcast without authorization. The report highlights that this form of piracy particularly affects a male audience, from higher socio-professional categories and slightly younger than the average.

The infrastructure of these services is based on a complex ecosystem involving streaming servers, dedicated networks, subscription providers and producers of electronic boxes. This architecture renders traditional blocking largely ineffective. Blocking of IPTV services has exploded: they represented 6% of Arcom requests in 2023, 28% in 2024 and reached 40% over the first three quarters of 2025.

The report detailed losses: 1.2 billion euros for audiovisual and 290 million for sport. Professional clubs, whose television rights constitute on average more than a third of revenues, suffer losses of 130 million euros. The State is not spared: 230 million VAT and 190 million social security contributions evaporate each year in the twists and turns of digital technology.

The great technological escape of pirates

Counterfeiters have learned to overcome institutional barriers. THE VPN and the Alternative DNStechnologies that are neutral in essence but diverted from their primary use, make it possible to simulate a connection from abroad and access sites blocked in France. Their adoption is exploding: 66% of consumers of illicit content use it, a proportion reaching 74% among 25-34 year olds.

The report reveals a perverse effect: for 21% of VPN users practicing piracy, receiving a warning from Arcom or the blocking of a site precisely motivated the adoption of the tool. This technical chase exhausts current systems. The graduated response, although effective on a peer-to-peer basis, is expensive for Arcom and its limited scope makes it unsuitable for new forms of hacking. Mirror sites proliferate instantly after each block.

Faced with this impasse, Arcom recommends three radical areas of reform. First project: partially automate blocking, particularly for live sports broadcasts. The report specifies that this development, inspired in particular by the British and Italian models, will make it possible to process considerably increased volumes of requests within times compatible with the duration of retransmissions.

The Italian Piracy Shield system, deployed since 2023allows the blocking of illicit services within 30 minutes, in particular by IP address and via intermediaries other than internet service providers, such as DNS resolvers, VPNs or search engines. France is preparing to import this model via a senatorial bill relating to the organization, management and financing of professional sport.

Arcom would move from a systematic verification of each illegal service reported to a control of the detection systems put in place by rights holders and to monitoring the quality of referrals. The report also recommends granting Arcom coercive power in the event of non-application of blocking requests by technical intermediaries.

VPNs and influencers in the crosshairs

Second part of the reform: mobilize more technical intermediaries. If access providers have actively participated since the 2023 agreement with sports rights holders, other players must get involved. Alternative VPN and DNS providers, whose misuse for illicit purposes concerns 66% of illicit consumersconstitute priority partners.

The report points to commercial partnerships concluded between certain VPN providers and French influencers, who build their promotional message on the possibility offered to circumvent national blocking measures. A modification of the law aimed at regulating commercial influence is suggested to prohibit this type of communication.

Beyond VPNs, the entire digital ecosystem must be involved: hosts, content distribution networks, application stores, marketplaces, search engine operators as advertising agencies, online payment service providers. This strategy, based on voluntary cooperation rather than systematic coercion, aims to lighten the burden on the courts and reduce intervention times.

The criminal arsenal is strengthening

Third pillar of the reform: strengthening criminal sanctions. Currently, the author of infringing provision faces a maximum penalty of 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine of €300,000, or even €1,500,000 for a legal entity. The report recommends the creation of specific criminal offenses for violations of sporting rights, provided for by the Senate bill.

This development would allow holders of audiovisual exploitation rights to benefit from criminal action beyond just audiovisual retransmission rights, and would make it easier to obtain evidence to identify the perpetrators of infringements. The new offense of illicit platform administration, introduced at article 323-3-2 of the penal codecompletes this arsenal by targeting services that knowingly facilitate illegal activities while seeking to evade their legal obligations.

These proposals demonstrate a paradigm shift; rather than piling up corrective measures, the report calls for public intervention based on the voluntary cooperation of private actors. This new doctrine must, however, be in full compliance with constitutional and European standards, particularly concerning freedom of online communication. The Council of State will soon rule on the compliance of the graduated response procedure with the requirements of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which could require substantial adaptations of the current system.

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