Optimism from the strong action of functional agencies
At the beginning of March, the sports world was "stirred up" by information that the pirated website Xoi lac TV was dismantled, and dozens of defendants were prosecuted for a number of charges, including copyright infringement. Most recently, the second "bomb" was detonated when Hung Yen Provincial Police successfully dismantled a high-tech crime ring behind a series of "notorious" pirated websites such as CakhiaTV, RakhoiTV, CaheoTV...
The operating tricks are no different, but it is worth mentioning that the subjects were discovered while completing methodical plans to "dismantle" the broadcasting rights of the 2026 World Cup.
In addition to football, cases related to copyright issues in the fields of music and culture are also being promoted for handling.
Optimistic as it is, it must also be seen that the battle is still very arduous, because the "tentacle" of copyright infringement is no longer small individual livestreamers, but has evolved into space criminal organizations, operating professionally. Because of the huge attraction from the huge profit flow from illegal betting advertising.
Looking deeper into the essence, this is a serious act of infringing upon economic interests and national prestige. If uncontrolled violations occur, FIFA has the full right to unilaterally cut off broadcasts as they warned at the 2018 World Cup. The price to pay is extremely high, because Vietnamese people are deprived of the right to enjoy the tournament, the national image is damaged on the international stage, and in the future, major partners will shake their heads when negotiating copyright with Vietnam.
In addition, condoning these websites inadvertently assists cybercriminals, because this is the "pot" for installing malware, stealing data and luring viewers into black credit and betting traps.
What is the solution?
For this fight to be most effective, Vietnam needs a synchronous solution ecosystem, closely combining 3 factors: Technology, Legality and Cognition.
Speaking of technology, it must be affirmed that when organizations have been dismantled, Vietnamese functional agencies already have data. Therefore, the viewpoint of "using technology to govern technology" is put forward. Of course, skills and solutions related to infrastructure and technology will require coordination between units.
In the legal story, recent strong moves, criminalizing cases, have increased the level of warning and sent a heavy deterrent message to subjects with bad intentions. At the same time, it is necessary to simplify administrative procedures so that broadcasters and telecommunications businesses can implement emergency blocking orders for violating websites within 30 minutes from detection.
Another ring being dismantled right before the 2026 World Cup is a strong message about no forbidden zones for copyright infringement.
Commentator Truong Anh Ngoc: "I think that functional agencies are working very seriously and drastically on the copyright issue. We are talking here about football broadcasting rights, but I hope this will not only happen during the World Cup season or just because Vietnam was once put on the list of surveillance for copyright issues.
I hope that copyright protection will be carried out regularly and continuously in all fields related to creativity and intellectual property, not just stopping at illegal football websites. To do that, great determination is required from functional agencies.
What I hope most is that after the pirated websites are dismantled, those behind them must take responsibility before the law, then those who intend to do business in a similar way will have to rethink.
On the other hand, those who are using those products, especially young people, also need to clearly recognize how they have been and are contributing to copyright infringement. Illegal websites cannot exist without viewers and users. Most of them are young people, who often think this is a free environment to express opinions, interact and entertain.
But they do not realize that behind those websites are many pitfalls. From watching free football, users may gradually be led to betting activities. This is really dangerous, because betting in Vietnam is still illegal.
