The Italian Serie A is ramping up its fight against online piracy, with Google squarely in its crosshairs. The league has accused the tech giant of failing to effectively remove apps that illegally stream football matches, despite repeated requests.
Calcio e Finanza report how, In a stern warning, Serie A has declared its readiness to pursue legal action against Google if immediate steps are not taken to address the issue. The league expects to see concrete action from the American tech behemoth as soon as the upcoming match day, which features the high-profile clash between Inter and Juventus.
The Derby d’Italia, scheduled for Sunday evening at San Siro, is anticipated to attract significant traffic and attempts to access illegal streaming sites. If Google fails to act, Serie A warns that it will have no choice but to initiate a lawsuit for damages.
A specific case highlighted by the league involves an app called “Live Football.” This application, which allowed users to illegally stream matches during the 2023/24 season, was repeatedly flagged by Serie A for removal from the Google Play Store. However, the app kept reappearing with slight name variations such as “Live Football TV App” and “Live Football TV Stream HD,” seemingly evading Google’s detection.
Serie A claims to have repeatedly demanded that Google not only remove the app but also prevent its re-upload under different names. Additionally, the league requested that Google provide data to identify the app’s developers. However, according to Serie A, Google has consistently failed to comply with these requests or provide the legally required information.
The league has expressed frustration at having to continually counter false claims from these app developers, who often present themselves as legitimate rights holders when contesting the removal of their apps.
In its formal notice to Google, Serie A strongly asserts that by allowing the repeated uploading of the “Live Football” app in its various forms, despite being repeatedly informed of its illegality, Google is knowingly contributing to the infringement of the league’s rights and enabling further damage to occur.
