By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Bell is teaming up with Netflix and high-powered movie studios to request that the Federal Court force the disclosure of the information of the operators of a platform that they say illegally hosts their television and movie content.
Filed earlier this month, the application requests that the court immediately stop the unidentified operator from operating the Soap2day service and force two Canada-based website hosting platforms called Register.TO and OVH Hosting Inc. to divulge the information related to the operation, including domains and delivery services, which they say host the allegedly infringing content whose exclusive licences are held by the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs say the Soap2day platform has at least 17 different internet addresses, all of which contain nearly 10,000 movies and roughly 1,000 television programs. In other words, it’s an alleged sprawling operation with no single target IP address for take-down.
“From a user’s perspective, accessing unauthorized content through the Soap2day Platform is a similar experience to accessing content through legitimate subscription-based Internet streaming services,” the plaintiffs said in the complaint. “In this regard the Soap2day Platform has a broad appeal for users who would perhaps otherwise not access infringing content online. Some of these users are likely not even be aware of the illegitimate nature of the Soap2day Platform.”
The plaintiffs say this user-friendly experience has contributed to the service getting 1.4 billion global visits between November 2021 and November 2022, with Canadian users accounting for 11.8 per cent, or 167 million, of those visits.
The service has been operational since at least early 2018, the complaint says.
According to its website, the homepage of which is pictured above, the Soap2day service runs ads next to the videos. The complaint says it used to run with an additional VIP paid subscription.
The plaintiffs say if the court does not grant their request, they will suffer irreparable financial harm.
The plaintiffs include Netflix, Disney Enterprises, Universal City Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, Prairie Pants Productions, Spinner Productions, Sphere Media, and Get’er Done Productions.
At the same time, Bell is on the bad end of a $400-million lawsuit by movie studios, who allege it failed to deliver copyright infringement notices to its subscribers. Bell denies the claim and is asking the courts to argue that these movie studios are allegedly abusing the notice system.
