A controversial online streaming service in South Africa, notorious for enabling users to share and watch copyrighted films and TV shows illegally, has recently been shut down.
In recent days, many My Family Cinema (MFC) users took to social media to share screenshots of a message they received when launching the app on their televisions. The notification read, “Due to copyright issues, this brand must permanently end its service. We sincerely thank you for your trust and support over the years.”
This shutdown in South Africa follows similar issues reported by users in other countries, including Australia and Canada, who began facing access problems two months prior. Some users speculated that this was linked to a significant operation in Argentina earlier in September that dismantled various illicit IPTV services.
The crackdown not only affected MFC but also disrupted several other illegal IPTV services, including Eppi Cinema, Weiv TV, Red Play, and TV Express. According to a statement about the operation, these services collectively had more than 20 million customers worldwide, including around eight million paying users.
MFC promotes itself as a personal media player. Still, it gained popularity primarily due to its cloud link feature, which enables users to upload and share their collections of movies and shows online. Resellers utilised this feature to provide access to unlicensed content for a subscription fee, which, for many South African users, was a significant benefit.
The service’s South African library included content also available exclusively on platforms such as DStv, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Showmax. To use MFC on a TV, users needed a modified Android TV box or sideloaded the MFC application package (APK) from MFC’s website onto a smart TV or streaming box. While the APK was still accessible at the time of reporting, MFC’s homepage was no longer reachable.
Many users expressed frustration, claiming they had prepaid for the service and were not being refunded for their remaining days. Given the service’s illegal nature, such refunds appear unlikely.
Another service operating under a similar model to MFC is Watchlist Pro. This service has also attempted to distance itself from liability concerning user-uploaded content that may infringe copyright laws. “This means that it is not responsible for uploading any content to the platform, nor for monitoring the availability of such content,” the service claims, placing that responsibility squarely on the users.
MultiChoice has previously told MyBroadband that, while such platforms aren’t inherently illegal, their acceptance of “user-generated” content directly contravenes the law. “The content uploaded and shared by users may include unauthorised or illegal material, which violates copyright laws and makes distribution illegal,” MultiChoice stated.
In contrast, more established platforms like YouTube and Facebook offer user-generated content under strict guidelines and possess sophisticated systems to manage copyright issues. MultiChoice has noted that these platforms comply with lawful takedown requests from content holders concerning copyright protection.
Over the past two years, MultiChoice, along with its cybersecurity and copyright software subsidiary Irdeto, has intensified efforts to combat illegal IPTV services. Working closely with law enforcement, they have executed multiple successful raids targeting illegal IPTV devices and subscription resellers both in South Africa and internationally.
Moreover, several local individuals have received lengthy prison sentences or hefty fines for selling these services. Recently, however, MultiChoice has adapted its anti-piracy strategies, focusing on upstream targets rather than just resellers. The broadcaster has announced that its monitoring and anti-piracy tools have advanced significantly since 2024, enabling easier identification and blocking of piracy on its platform.
