France: Anti-piracy tech trialled at Roland-Garros
May 28, 2026
From Pascale Paoli-Lebailly in Paris
It marks the the first time that the technology, based on a real-time blocking of IP addresses of illegal IPTV servers, has been tested at a major sporting event in the country.
During each match, rights holders detect pirate streams and report them to Arcom, which then orders the four main ISPs (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free) to block the IP addresses concerned immediately. The protocol, inspired by similar operations – in Spain, Italy and the UK – includes several safeguards, such as a list of untouchable IPs and blocking windows limited to the duration of the match, to avoid collateral damage that has occurred in other territories.
Arcom noted that the French open was selected for testing in light of its duration, standing and the diversity of match schedules. Going forward, the main challenge will be to apply the technology to larger tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup (kicking off on June 11th), where illicit streams will be considerably more numerous.
According to the Association for the protection of sports programmes, piracy represents a massive €300 million in annual losses in France, and €1.5 billion for all cultural content. Some 11 per cent of French Internet users regularly used an illegal IPTV service in 2025 according to Arcom.
A bill to extend automatic blocking in real time so as to target illegal broadcasters rather than consumers was adopted in the Senate in June 2025, but is still pending in the Assembly.
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