Popular pirate streaming service with DStv content shuts down in South Africa
A controversial online video streaming service in South Africa, known for allowing users to share and watch copyrighted movies and TV shows illegally, has been shut down.
In the last few days, multiple My Family Cinema (MFC) users posted images on social media with a message they received when starting up the app on their TV.
“Due to copyright issues, this brand must permanently end its service,” the notification states. “We sincerely thank you for your trust and support over the years.”
The shutdown in South Africa follows reports from users in other countries, including Australia and Canada, who began experiencing issues with accessing the service two months ago.
Some users believed it was due to a massive joint operation in Argentina in early September that led to the dismantling of various illegal IPTV services.
In addition to MFC, the website said that the raid disrupted dozens of illegal IPTV services, including Eppi Cinema, Weiv TV, Red Play, and TV Express.
A statement on the operation said that the services had over 20 million customers worldwide, including up to eight million paying users.
While MFC promotes itself as merely a personal media player, it is most popular for its cloud link feature, which lets users upload and share their libraries of movies and series with others over the Internet.
Resellers of the service use this feature to provide users access to unlicensed content for a monthly fee. Although prices vary depending on the resellers, many users were paying R74 per month in South Africa.
Included in its library in South Africa was content available exclusively on services like DStv, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Showmax.
Using MFC on a TV required using a modified Android TV box or sideloading the application package (APK) available on MFC’s website to a streaming box or smart TV.
Although the APK remained available at the time of publication, MFC’s Home page was no longer accessible.
Several users complained that they had paid in advance for a service and were not being refunded for their unused days. Considering the service was illegal, refunds seem unlikely.
User-generated content must be policed
Another service that uses a similar operating model as MFC is Watchlist Pro. The service has also attempted to exempt itself from any liability for users uploading content “of an illegal nature.”
“This means that it is not responsible for uploading any content to the platform, nor for monitoring the availability of such content,” the service states. “Users are responsible for uploading their own content, if they wish.”
MultiChoice previously told MyBroadband that although these types of platforms are not inherently illegal, their acceptance of “user-generated” content was against the law.
“The content that is uploaded and shared by users may include unauthorised or illegal material, which violates copyright laws and makes the content distribution illegal,” MultiChoice said.
While better-known platforms like YouTube and Facebook also allow user-generated content, they have sophisticated systems and strict rules against distributing copyrighted content.
“These platforms comply with legitimate takedown requests from content owners and licensees with respect to the protection of copyright and intellectual property,” MultiChoice said.
MultiChoice and its cybersecurity and copyright software subsidiary, Irdeto, have cracked down on illegal IPTV services in the last two years.
In collaboration with law enforcement, the broadcaster has conducted numerous successful raids of illegal IPTV devices and subscription resellers in South Africa and abroad.
Several locals have also been convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms or fined tens of thousands of rand for selling the services.
However, MultiChoice has recently shifted its anti-piracy efforts to focus on upstream targets rather than resellers.
The broadcaster told MyBroadband its monitoring and anti-piracy toolsets had evolved significantly since 2024, allowing it to more easily identify and block its platform from being used in streaming piracy.
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