Is IPTV Legal? Read Before Streaming Live TV Online
This detailed guide covers a question we frequently receive – Is IPTV Legal?
The short answer to “is IPTV legal?” is Yes. IPTV itself is not illegal.
For those unfamiliar with this technology, IPTV stands for “Internet protocol television.” In other words, streaming live TV through the internet.
What Is IPTV – All Questions Answered
The number of IPTV users is only increasing, as millions of households continue to cut the cord every year across the world.
People are becoming frustrated with expensive cable/satellite TV packages still offered by their Internet service providers (ISPs).
Consumers only want to watch their favorite channels without paying a fortune, and that’s why IPTV services are becoming more attractive.
If you are brand new to IPTV or cord-cutting in general, we suggest viewing our popular IPTV guide below which has been visited by millions.
Our IPTV Guide explains everything you need to know about live TV including services, apps, players, IPTV Boxes, and much more.
Once you understand the basics of IPTV it’s important to discuss the legality of IPTV and the difference between verified and unverified providers.
Is IPTV Legal?
As mentioned previously, IPTV by itself is not illegal. Streaming live TV through the Internet has been happening for the past several years, as there are thousands of services available.
⚖️ Legal Disclaimer: Stream Radar does not operate, develop, host, or administer any streaming app, addon, service, or website. This is a review site where we point out the good, bad, and possibly illegal practices found within various apps, addons, services, websites, etc. The end-user is ultimately responsible for anything streamed or downloaded through his/her Internet connection. Stream Radar assumes that all visitors are abiding by copyright laws set forth within their jurisdiciton. Stream Radar will not be held liable for ISP termination, lawsuits, data breaches, fraudulent charges, etc.
However, some IPTV providers are 100% legal and some are illegal. It’s extremely difficult for us at Stream Radar to determine whether an IPTV service holds the proper licensing to broadcast its channels.
Since it’s almost impossible for us to determine whether an IPTV service is legal or not, we take the following approach at Stream Radar:
“Stream Radar can’t verify whether or not an IPTV service holds the proper licensing for the channels and other content that they provide. The end-user is solely liable for any IPTV service or app used on their streaming devices.”
Since this is the case we separate IPTV providers into two different categories – Verified and Unverified.
Verified IPTV Services (100% Legal)
If an IPTV provider is available through a reputable app store such as Amazon, Apple, or Google Play, we can be certain it carries the proper licensing for the channels and content they broadcast.
Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple would likely be held liable for allowing any IPTV service that distributes copyrighted content without proper licensing.
Popular examples of legal IPTV services include fuboTV, YouTube TV, Philo, Hulu, Sling, XUMO, Pluto TV, and many others.
IPTV Apps and IPTV Players can be found within trusted app stores.
Where legality in IPTV becomes a topic of concern is when unverified services are used.
Unverified IPTV Services
Unverified IPTV services on the other hand are defined as live TV providers not available within reputable app stores (Amazon, Apple, Google).
These IPTV providers often require users to sideload an application to access channels. This is common among users who “Jailbreak their Firestick.”
Unverified services usually offer thousands of channels, PPV, major sports packages, international channels, and more for $10 – $20 per month.
When asking the question “is IPTV legal?” it is often the unverified services that raise concerns.
The major concerns of using an unverified service are legal questions and possible identity/security vulnerabilities.
One recent example of security vulnerabilities involved the once-popular “Sapphire Secure” IPTV service.
Due to the fact that Stream Radar has no way to fully determine whether these services carry the proper licensing, we label them as unverified services.
This also applies to the thousands of Free Sports Streaming Sites and Live TV Streaming Websites available online.
Some of these unverified IPTV services/apps are clearly delivering channels that they don’t have proper licensing for. When we are certain this is the case, we report these instances on our website.
In late 2020, the United States Congress approved a Felony Streaming Bill that classifies running/operating illegal streaming services as a felony.
This will do little to stop these unverified services because most of them operate outside of the United States.
People worldwide are fed up with paying these monopolistic cable/satellite companies each month. Change is definitely coming and millions of people are using unverified IPTV services around the world.
Unverified IPTV services aren’t owned by a well-known organization so people must be extremely careful when dealing with these unknown entities.
Is IPTV Legal FAQ
Is IPTV Legal?
IPTV itself is not illegal. We explain more about the legality of IPTV in this guide. It’s impossible to determine whether an IPTV service carries the proper licensing for the content that they broadcast.
What does IPTV Stand for?
IPTV stands for internet protocol television.
Is IPTV Safe?
Yes, many IPTV services are safe to use. However, there are some unverified IPTV providers that have been hacked and exposed user data.