This post was most recently updated on April 9th, 2019

Sometimes last year, I published an article on the legality or otherwise of IPTV.  I explained a whole lot about why IPTV can cause legal issues. Today, we shall be acquainting ourselves with matters that bother on official vs secure IPTV. Two questions arise from this keyphrase.

1. Does Official IPTV exist? If yes, what are official/direct IPTV subscriptions?
2. How can I subscribe to an IPTV service that is safe and secure?

Especially relevant:

• IPTV and its quest for Legitimacy / Legality – Is it totally legal?
• How to access a US video streaming services like hulu, PS vue, Amazon, outside the US

Unofficial vs Secure IPTV Viewing: Definition of Terms

What is Official IPTV subscription?: Official IPTV subscription is a situation whereby you are using your Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services directly from the office of the content provider or their representative.  If you are utilizing any IPTV services that you have duly procured from the original source of the content, then you are using an Official IPTV subscription.

In addition to the above, your usage of officially recognized IPTV cannot cause any injury to anyone. Secure or safe IPTV does not necessarily translate to official IPTV. An IPTV subscription maybe secures, safe to use but unofficial. Now let us consider the word “secure/Safe IPTV viewing”.

What is secure or safe IPTV viewing?

By secure IPTV subscription, we mean a situation where your subscription is certain to remain safe and unthreatened, Protected against threats. You can compromise your security if you subscribe to insecure IPTV. In a nutshell,  IPTV service obtained directly from the content providers is secure.  Security in this context relates to the user’s privacy protection.

Pre-requisites for official IPTV Services

• First off, you need to Get the subscription directly from the content providers. For example, if you want to watch DStv Nigeria super sports channels, subscribe to DStv now. If you want sky sports, get sky sports live service and so on.
• Pay only to the original content providers or their representative and not to any other group.

Types of Official IPTV Service

Interestingly, paid official IPTV has more interesting programs than free unofficial ones. I have compiled a short list of some popular IPTV services that are official and safe to use and secure. You can get more from this article.

List of Official IPTV Services. Most of these are for the USA Only

• YouTube TV
• Bein sports connect
• Hulu Live TV
•  Amazon prime video(I have a prime account that I hardly use to watch videos)
• fuboTV Premier
• Netflix: Available in many countries other than; China, Crimea, Syria, and North Korea.
• DStv now
• Sling
• Direct TV NOw
• PlayStation Vue
• Skysports
• Espn
• Netflix

Examples of IPTV Devices/Boxes that are Official out of the box

Here is a short list of IPTV boxes that are considered 100% Official, secure & Safe out of the box. These devices contain not inbuilt apps of software that circumvents the payment of any pay-TV subscriptions.

1. Amazon Fire TV Stick (Although you can jailbreak it to install 3rd party apps)
2. Apple TV (Apple tv can also be jailbroken in other to sideload apps to it)
3. Roku TV
4. Anmax x10 pro( An android tv box that you can easily root to install 3rd party apps)
5. Any android smart TV. For example Sony XBR49X900E 

How can I use an IPTV subscription Officially?

There are three ways by which you can use IPTV without the fear of the long arm of the law.

1. Buy the subscription from the original content providers or their authorised agents.
2. Two, collect the login details from anyone you know that has an active subscription that is lying idle. For example, if I have a Netflix account which I seldom use because of lack of time, I can conveniently give the login details out to those I trust who will make use of it. Also, you can download the apps for those services. In the US, Fox and Fox Sports 1 will cover the World Cup in English, and Telemundo and NBC Universo will do it in Spanish. In the UK, In MENA and Asia, Bein sports connect in the rest of Africa, DStv now. it’s BBC and ITV that are transmitting the games. In Canada, go to CTV/TSN.
3. Watch free IPTV services. The list includes but not limited to youtube, facebook videos and lots more that you can read up here.

Official vs secure IPTV: Are there any associated risks to using 3rd party/insecure IPTV?

As one would expect, 3rd parties or black market IPTV subscriptions comes with its attended risks. These risks include the risk of prosecution by original content owner or risk to the user’s privacy. For this reason, I resent a summary of how you can secure yourself while using IPTV below.

1. Make sure you use a VPN service. Vpn will anonymise your identity. Whether you are using an official IPTV or not, a VPN is essential. Examples of some good VPN software includes

• VyprVPN
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• IPVanish

2. Buy your IPTV hardware only from recognized and trusted stores. Also, make sure no preloaded app comes with it. You should be able to load what you want. Make sure you buy your an IPTV box that is not known to have any pirated app preloaded. For example, Android smart tv, Anmax box or equivalents.

3. This is for those who wish to use 3rd party IPTV services(be warned, these services are shrouded in piracy controversies), Make buyer you buy them only with inaccurate information like a fake email.

4. Do not purchase any IPTV service with your ATM card. Use a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin.

5. Another mistake most users of unofficial IPTV make is that they commercialize it. If you must use an IPTV service that is not official, please don’t buy and resell. Do not turn it into a money-spinning venture. That way you can be safe and escape lawsuits.

6. It is very important that you read the remainder of the “how to use IPTV without leaving any traces” article here.