{"id":31563,"date":"2026-11-04T10:11:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T15:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=31563"},"modified":"2026-11-04T10:11:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T15:11:52","slug":"vietnam-jails-eleven-pirate-football-streamers-for-up-to-a-year-three-others-escape-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/11\/04\/vietnam-jails-eleven-pirate-football-streamers-for-up-to-a-year-three-others-escape-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam Jails Eleven Pirate Football Streamers for Up to a Year, Three Others Escape Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Vietnamese court has sentenced 14 people who worked on the pirate football streaming site B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV, handing out the first prison terms we’ve seen since the country’s piracy crackdown began earlier this year. Eleven defendants received sentences ranging from eight to twelve months, while three commentators got suspended sentences. The alleged organizer of the group does not appear to be among those sentenced.<\/p>\n

In May, the U.S. Trade Representative opened a Section 301 investigation<\/a> into Vietnam, arguing that the country\u2019s piracy prosecutions lacked a deterrent effect.<\/p>\n

USTR pointed to recent cases in which defendants received suspended sentences and relatively low fines. A few weeks earlier, Vietnam\u2019s Prime Minister had ordered a nationwide crackdown on copyright infringement. Several criminal cases have since moved forward, including those against the alleged operators of HiAnime<\/a> and the Xoi Lac TV<\/a> sports streaming network.<\/p>\n

Another site in the crosshairs was B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV, which offered Premier League and Champions League streams with Vietnamese commentary. According to police, the site drew hundreds of thousands of visits a day.<\/p>\n

Investigators described the site as an underground company, with separate teams for programming, commentary, SEO and accounting. The main revenue came from ads and from redirecting viewers to illegal gambling sites.<\/p>\n

On May 15, police from several provinces moved in. They summoned suspects, searched homes and workplaces, and seized 38 computers and 42 phones. Less than two weeks later, Vietnam\u2019s Ministry of Public Security announced that Bac Ninh police had charged ten people.<\/p>\n

Up to a Year in Prison<\/h2>\n

That case has now reached a verdict. In a first-instance ruling reported last week, a court in Bac Ninh convicted 14 defendants of infringing copyright and related rights under Article 225 of Vietnam\u2019s Penal Code, VTC News<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

Four defendants, including the heads of the content, programming and operations teams, were sentenced to 12 months in prison. Five others received ten months, and two were sentenced to eight months.<\/p>\n

Notably, three of the site\u2019s commentators were not sent to prison. Their ten-month sentences were suspended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sentences per defendant, according to the verdict reports<\/em><\/center> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Defendant<\/th>\nRole<\/th>\nSentence<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0110\u1eb7ng Th\u1ebf Anh<\/td>\nContent lead<\/td>\n12 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nguy\u1ec5n Th\u1ebf Anh<\/td>\nProgramming lead<\/td>\n12 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
B\u00f9i Ti\u1ebfn D\u0169ng<\/td>\nOperations lead<\/td>\n12 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0110inh Th\u1ecd B\u00ecnh<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n12 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nguy\u1ec5n Anh \u0110o\u00e0n<\/td>\nOperations<\/td>\n10 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mai Nguy\u1ec5n Nh\u1eadt Minh<\/td>\nOperations<\/td>\n10 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tr\u01b0\u01a1ng \u0110\u00ecnh L\u1ed9c<\/td>\nOperations<\/td>\n10 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L\u00ea Xu\u00e2n S\u01a1n<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n10 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vi Quang Thi\u1ec7n<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n10 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
V\u0169 Ng\u1ecdc Ph\u00e1t<\/td>\nOperations<\/td>\n8 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ho\u00e0ng Th\u1ee5y Th\u00fay H\u1eb1ng<\/td>\nOperations<\/td>\n8 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nguy\u1ec5n Ho\u00e0ng Nam<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n10 months, suspended<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L\u00ea V\u0103n Tuy\u00ean<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n10 months, suspended<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Khi\u1ebfu Ho\u00e0ng Anh<\/td>\nCommentator<\/td>\n10 months, suspended<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

All 14 defendants reportedly admitted the charges and cooperated with the authorities. According to investigators, B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV streamed more than 150,000 sports matches and it allegedly made more than 20 billion dong, roughly $760,000, in illegal profits from betting and gambling ads.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The defendants in court (photo: C\u00f4ng an B\u1eafc Ninh)<\/em><\/center> <\/p>\n

\"trial<\/picture><\/center> <\/p>\n

The verdict reports don\u2019t mention a total. Instead, they list illegal gains per person or team. The leader of the content team allegedly gained more than 430 million dong, while commentators made from more than 31 million to more than 480 million dong each.<\/p>\n

\u2018Strong\u2019 Penalties<\/h2>\n

The verdict was picked up by Rouse<\/a>, the law firm that represents the Motion Picture Association in Vietnam. In an article<\/a> headlined \u201cStrong Vietnam criminal penalties,\u201d published on Lexology on November 3, the firm calls the ruling another victory for Vietnam\u2019s IP landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendants were all sentenced to terms of 8-12 months in prison,\u201d Rouse writes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From Rouse\u2019s article<\/em><\/center> <\/p>\n

\"lexology<\/center> <\/p>\n

While Rouse is correct on the length of the terms, it doesn\u2019t mention that three of the sentences were suspended. Instead, Rouse stresses that the ruling is part of a tougher enforcement trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis ruling reflects a shift in enforcement strategy by Vietnamese authorities, who are increasingly moving past preliminary domain blocking to deliver criminal convictions against the operators of commercial-scale piracy rings,\u201d the firm notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis perhaps reflects the strength of the national crackdown following the USTR pressure in May,\u201d the firm adds.<\/p>\n

Organizer Not on Trial?<\/h2>\n

The 14 defendants worked on the site, but according to the indictment reported by VTC News, the operation was directed by B\u00f9i B\u00e1 Hi\u1ebfn, who manages and runs a company called S24. Hi\u1ebfn allegedly instructed employees and hired collaborators to build and run B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV.<\/p>\n

Hi\u1ebfn is not among the 14 defendants named in the reports, as far as we can see. The reports don\u2019t name any of the impacted rightsholders either.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in September, Bac Ninh police issued a wanted notice for a man of the same name, B\u00f9i B\u00e1 Hi\u1ebfn, CEO of esports company Box Vietnam. This person is also charged under the same copyright statute.<\/p>\n

Police said this man fled<\/a> on May 13, two days before the B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV raids, but none of the reports we\u2019ve seen confirm that this esports executive is the same person that\u2019s named in the B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV indictment.<\/p>\n

The USTR has until November 29 to make its Section 301 determination, although it can extend the investigation by three months if needed. On paper, Vietnamese law allows for sentences up to three years for copyright infringement. Whether the 8-12 month sentences are what Washington had in mind when it called for more deterrent punishments has yet to be seen.<\/p>\n

Source: \u00a0\"TorrentFreak\"<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Vietnamese court has sentenced 14 people who worked on the pirate football streaming site B\u00fan Ch\u1ea3 TV, handing out the first prison terms we’ve seen since the country’s piracy crackdown began earlier this year. […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,6],"tags":[13214,13209,7150,13211,8562,13208,13210,2448,1041,13213,13215,13212],"class_list":["post-31563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-tech-news","category-world","tag-bac-ninh","tag-bun-cha-tv","tag-copyright-infringement","tag-hianime","tag-illegal-streaming","tag-pirate-football-streaming","tag-section-301-investigation","tag-ustr","tag-vietnam","tag-vietnam-ministry-of-public-security","tag-vietnam-penal-code-article-225","tag-xoi-lac-tv","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31565,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31563\/revisions\/31565"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}