In a big win for Qatar, Oman bans use and sale of pirated ‘beoutQ’ decoders

For a few months now, Qatari broadcaster beIN Media Group had been at the receiving end of high-level piracy, with Saudi Arabia-based ‘beoutQ’ stealing beIN’s signal to many high-profile competitions.

beIN Media had been appealing to major sports federations across the globe, including football world body FIFA, to speak out against the piracy, but things had been moving very slowly.

Yesterday, beIN Media won a major victory when neighbours Oman decided to ban the import and use of beoutQ decoders that would allow viewers to watch pirated matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, according to Gulf Times.

“The import of these decoders, called beoutQ, was banned because they violate the law on intellectual property,” said an Omani official, on condition of anonymity.

The move comes amid an increasing war of words over broadcast piracy in the region, ahead of the World Cup which begins on June 14, and against a backdrop of the Gulf crisis.

A sophisticated Saudi bootlegging network known as ‘beoutQ' — using a signal from Riyadh-based satellite provider Arabsat — has been illegally transmitting its broadcasts, claims beIN.

Sources in Oman said beIN has sent requests to several countries asking them to ban ‘beoutQ’ decoders, reported The Peninsula.

beIN plans to show all 64 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia in the Middle East and in North Africa.