DAZN, Pluto TV and a list of .m3u8 TV channels. That is the combination that has occurred in an incident that has resonated strongly among IPTV users. It could mark a before and after for those who use this method to watch TV.
The mess that has arisen in the last few hours with DAZN and Pluto TV has been quite big. Big and, in a way, unexpected. Because DAZN has issued a DMCA takedown request against a list of channels that use Pluto TV feeds that are legally approved by the sports service. What has been the consequence? Do they really have the right to an action like this and what can be expected from it in the future?
A difficult puzzle to decipher
Then we go more deeply into what has happened, because there is no waste. What we can tell you first is that the channel lists in .m3u8 format that a user named Matt Huisman was offering, with which he allowed DAZN broadcasts to be viewed on IPTV, have been eliminated. At least, yes, those that correspond to the original Pluto TV broadcast flow. The rest of his lists, available freely on his website, are still available.
DAZN issued the DMCA order because it has discovered that this user was sharing the link to the playlists, meaning users can tune into the signal directly without accessing Pluto TV. As a result of the DMCA, Huisman’s hosting has requested the removal of the lists and, as he has confirmed on X in the message that you can see above this paragraph, they are no longer available at the moment. That is the conclusion, but the interesting thing is to understand what has really happened.
This is the situation
What Matt Huisman does for the love of the art or, as he mentions, for fun, is collect the links to the FAST channel feeds so that users can load them onto their programs and devices. This simplifies tuning to these stations and offers an experience that thousands of users enjoy. Basically, it is something similar to what TDTChannels does in Spain, although in our country they do not give access to either DAZN or Pluto TV channels.
DAZN’s interpretation of the situation has been to treat the service that Huisman is providing as if it were pirated IPTV. But there is a big difference that he himself defends and that leads him to not understand the situation: he is not hosting the channels’ signal in another domain. This is what illegal IPTV services do, which hijack signals and put them on other web addresses. But, in his case, what he does is use the same Pluto TV signal linking to it. In reality, when a user uses one of his lists, he is simply watching Pluto TV without going through any intermediary. Therefore, an opportunity for important debate opens up which, however, is not exactly new, since it has already witnessed discussion over time.
Another important detail is that the addresses of Pluto TV broadcasts can be obtained freely without any advanced knowledge. They are not protected nor are they encrypted in any way. The URL links are available on their website and can be retrieved with little difficulty. Yes, there is a fairly long web address code on each of the channels, but it is not a factor that is implemented as a form of deterrence. Therefore, what Huisman does by obtaining those links and sharing them is no different from what any user can do on his account. He simply simplifies the process with no benefit beyond a page where he accepts donations.
Once Huisman has obtained the Pluto TV URL code, it incorporates a 302 redirect function so that the link goes to the original source and is reproduced in a supposedly legal way. In DAZN’s DMCA request he argues that the original content of which the copyright has been infringed is stored on the developer’s servers, which is debatable. However, in order not to have major problems, he has preferred to give in and eliminate the access that his lists had to Pluto TV channels.
Are you committing a crime?
What happened has led to the disappearance of Huisman’s lists from the DAZN 1, DAZN 2, DAZN 3, DAZN Womens, DAZN Pluto and DAZN Fights channels. In any case, you have to understand DAZN’s point of view and take other important factors into account. The first of them is that it seems that the channels in question are being offered on Pluto TV Germany, while Matt Huisman is in New Zealand and his hosting is from the United States, so he is doing some going around to get to the content. On the other hand, what is happening when sharing the Pluto TV signal through the lists is that the display of banners and other advertising advertisements is being eliminated. Therefore, DAZN could deal with this situation in different ways, although possibly not as piracy.
At the moment, as we told you, Matt Huisman’s lists no longer have those links to Pluto TV and users who had the channels in question now find themselves with a page not found result. The precedent, however, is curious and could be something to talk about in the future if other entities decide to follow the same path to protect their signals. In addition, DAZN itself may not leave this incident as an exception and intends to pursue other lists of similar channels.
