'Copycat' websites targeted in 'whack-a-mole' court battle with pirate Soap2Day streamers

Whoever — and wherever — John Does 1 to 4 are, the individuals behind the mysterious Soap2Day streaming websites owe some of the world's biggest content producers a lot of money.

But at least they're helping break new Canadian legal ground.

A Federal Court judge issued reasons last week for an extraordinary ruling targeting 'copycat' websites of the popular but elusive Soap2Day service in what he called a "whack-a-mole" battle by companies like Netflix, Bell Media and Disney to protect their products from internet piracy.

Judge Simon Fothergill also ordered John Does 1 to 4 to pay more than $22 million to the content producers, owners and distributors who obtained the order, forcing internet service providers to block both existing Soap2Day websites and any copycats identified in the future.

"The plaintiffs report a growing trend, whereby infringing platforms that are successfully deactivated are promptly replaced by copycat sites," Fothergill wrote.

"Platforms such as 123movies, Popcorn Time and Pirate Bay have all been shut down or blocked at one time or another, only to be replaced by identical sites with similar names."

A six-year evolution

Fothergill's ruling traces the six-year evolution of attempts to use the courts to crack down on piracy — starting with a groundbreaking 2019 ruling that saw a judge issue Canada's first nationwide blocking order.

In that case — which was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada — Bell Media, Group TVA Inc. and Rogers went after GoldTV, an online service offering subscribers thousands of traditional TV channels for as little as $15 a month.

Fothergill called the order in the GoldTV case "static" — involving specific domain names and IP addresses — because the scofflaw's subscription model made "it comparatively easy to verify whether subsequent domains and IP addresses were associated with the original platform."

"By contrast, the Soap2Day platforms do not use a subscription-based model but rather derive revenue primarily from advertisements," the judge wrote.

"It is therefore difficult to determine whether new domains operating under the banner of Soap2day are operated by the same people or are otherwise related."

In the years since, the internet pirates have become more savvy, and the content providers have sought to fight them with increasingly more flexible injunctions from the court.

'Multi-sport blocking order'

In 2022, another Federal Court judge issued what he called a "dynamic" site-blocking order to stop the unauthorized broadcast of live National Hockey League games.

According to that decision, NHL broadcasters claimed the "static" order against GoldTV wouldn't work for them "because the pirates have adopted new measures to avoid detection and defeat site blocking, including moving their infringing content from site to site on a regular basis."

"Court approval would be impossible prior to each new blocking step because these efforts need to happen in real-time in order to be effective," the judge wrote.

"Most fans watch hockey games live rather than recording them to watch later. This combination of factors means that blocking of unlawful streaming of live NHL broadcasts must happen while the broadcast is underway."

The 2022 decision — which was another first of its kind — provided insight into the popularity of free streaming services. Over a one-month period in 2021, Rogers claimed an average of 20,000 of their internet subscribers accessed "known illegal IPTV services on a daily basis."

"During one evening when a playoff game between Montreal and Toronto was broadcast (a highly popular event) at least 25,000 Bell Canada Internet subscribers accessed the unauthorized streaming services," the judge in that case wrote.

In principal, the "dynamic" order means that broadcasters can give internet service providers a rolling, minute-by-minute list of sites to block as streamers hop from website to website while the games are happening.

Last year, yet another Federal Court judge issued a "multi-sport blocking order" — expanding on the "dynamic" ban on illegal streaming of live hockey to include NBA basketball, premier league soccer, ultimate fighting and other sports, including the World Junior Hockey championships.

'Everything, absolutely EVERYTHING'

Forthergill's order includes a lengthy list of TV shows and movies ranging from Muppets Most Wanted to Stranger Things and Dawn of the Dead — all shown on various incarnations of Soap2Day in violation of copyright.

The judge levied damages of millions against the John Does behind Soap2Day for their "repeated, blatant, notorious and intentional misconduct."

The other part of the ruling cites a confidential set of conditions for a website to be considered a copycat, allowing content producers to regularly update the list of sites to be blocked as new Soap2Day pretenders arise.

Despite the order, a CBC reporter was able to find a website purporting to be Soap2Day this week and to stream the opening minutes of Oscar contender A Complete Unknown.

"We have everything from Hollywood's latest releases to Bollywood blockbusters, available for viewing on Soap2day almost immediately upon release," the website said.

"If Soap2day didn't exist, you would need 3-4 subscriptions, such as Netflix, HBO, Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video, to watch exclusive content, but with us, you won't need that. Everything, absolutely EVERYTHING, is available on Soap2day."