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MagisTV, a leading pirate streaming brand in Latin America, finds itself caught between a legal storm and a mounting malware backlash. This week, the service saw its U.S. trademark application abandoned amidst growing scrutiny from authorities and rightsholders worldwide. At the same time, a barrage of local news reports warn consumers that using MagisTV's software could lead to identity theft and expose them to viruses.
Latin America is no exception to this trend but unlike other regions, one pirate streaming brand clearly stands out: MagisTV.
The MagisTV name is used by dozens of websites, many of which are reseller platforms. While some of these might be related, the name is also used by unrelated entities, simply because the brand has become synonymous with pirate IPTV.
Rightsholders worldwide are not pleased with the brand’s dominance and have worked hard to counter it. This resulted in several referrals that reportedly resulted in criminal investigations in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Following a referral from the MPA’s anti-piracy arm ACE, two Magis TV operators were criminally prosecuted in Colombia, with both receiving 30-month suspended prison sentences from a local court in May.
The MagisTV problem was also reported to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), which added the brand to its latest list of notorious piracy markets.
“MagisTV is one of the world’s most popular IPTV services and operates primarily in Latin America. The service provides unauthorized access to live sports streams, television channels, and on-demand movies and television shows to its customers for a monthly subscription,” USTR wrote.
However, despite these enforcement actions and repeated warnings, the “Magis TV” problem hasn’t gone away.
Following the USTR’s listing, several Magis TV domain names were abandoned, while others rebranded their service to Flujo TV, presumably to escape the heat. The Magis TV brand nonetheless remains popular today even in the United States, where a Chinese company tried to obtain the U.S. trademark.
The company ‘Shenzhen Huiyi Electronics’ applied for the ‘Magis TV’ mark for the recognizable logo at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Last December, it passed the first hurdle when the office issued a “notice of allowance,” to the frustration of many rightsholders.
To proceed with the registration process, the Chinese set-top box manufacturer was required to file a Statement of Use (SOU), proving they are actually using the trademark in commerce. That document never arrived, prompting the trademark office to abandon the application.
This effectively means the trademark application is no longer active and will not proceed to registration.
If the Chinese company would still like to secure the trademark, it can file a “Petition to Revive” within two months, which comes at an extra cost. For now, however, there’s no indication that it missed the deadline unintentionally. Instead, the legal pressure against the Magis TV brand likely makes the trademark less appealing.
In addition to the legal concerns, recent publications in Latin American news outlets repeatedly warn of potential security risks related to Magis TV. While these concerns are certainly warranted, the barrage of articles clearly stands out, as the collection of translated headlines below shows.
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The articles list a wide variety of potential threats, including malware, viruses, data theft, identity theft, bank fraud, and many others. At the same time, they conveniently offer options for legal and authorized streaming services readers can try instead.
Interestingly, several Magis TV websites are fighting back against these news articles by explicitly mentioning that their software is safe. This is corroborated with ‘evidence’ in some cases, including the site below that shows a clean VirusTotal check to reassure visitors.
Whether these promises are worth anything is questionable because VirusTotal showed a different result when we checked the APK file ourselves. And that’s just one of the many APKs out there.