DISH Sues Pirate IPTV Hosting Company for $25 Million

DISH is suing a hosting provider for helping pirate IPTV services and ignoring DMCA notices. They are seeking $25 million in damages.

DISH Network and the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) have filed a new federal lawsuit against UK hosting provider Innetra.

The complaint, filed in California, accuses the company of helping IPTV services operate while ignoring repeated copyright takedown notices.

Hosting Pirate Services

According to DISH, Innetra provided the infrastructure needed to run several illegal IPTV services.

These included Kemo IPTV, Lemo TV, XtremeHD, Honeybee, and Caliptostreams. Many of these streamed channels in Arabic, Hindi, and Bangla.

DISH holds U.S. rights to these channels and claims they were broadcast 24/7 for years without permission.

The complaint says Innetra didn’t just host the content. It also refused to respond to DMCA notices and allegedly made itself attractive to pirates by maintaining a “DMCA-ignore” posture.

Although the company’s terms of service references copyright protection, DISH claims this was only for show. The actual policy, they argue, was to do nothing.

Safe Harbor Doesn’t Apply

Under U.S. copyright law, service providers are generally protected from liability if they take action once notified of illegal content. But that protection disappears if they ignore the notices altogether.

That’s what DISH claims happened here. More than 100 takedown notices were sent to Innetra, but the company only replied to one—and said it wouldn’t take anything down.

The lawsuit states that Innetra could have easily cut off access to the streams or shut down offending accounts. Instead, they allegedly chose to let the services continue and keep profiting from them.

Drawing In Bad Actors

DISH believes Innetra attracted IPTV pirates by offering a haven for infringement. According to the complaint, pirates “perceived Innetra’s servers and network as a place where infringement was tolerated.”

Although there’s no direct mention of a DMCA-ignore policy on Innetra’s site, DISH says the company’s reputation among illegal IPTV providers told a different story. The list of infringing services and related server details included in the filing reinforces this claim.

Legal Fallout and Industry Message

In addition to Innetra, the suit names company director Elna Paulette Belle as a defendant. DISH is asking for the maximum penalty—$150,000 per work—for 171 copyrighted broadcasts, totaling $25.65 million in potential damages.

This lawsuit is part of a growing effort to hold service providers accountable. DISH previously settled a $3 million case against UK-based DataCamp and has another active lawsuit against a Ukrainian host.

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Final Thoughts

This lawsuit sends a clear warning. DISH is not just going after the pirate IPTV operators, it’s also coming for the infrastructure keeping them online. With $25 million in damages on the table, Innetra and its director face serious consequences.

IBCAP’s Chris Kuelling issued a blunt message: ignore takedown notices at your own risk. Hosting providers that ignore repeated copyright violations might find themselves in court next.

For others in the space, the message is simple: take copyright law seriously or be ready for a legal fight.

For more information on this story, refer to the legal documentation (PDF) or the press release from IBCAP.

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