The USA at a glance
- Key law
- Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020 (18 U.S.C. § 2319C): running an unlicensed commercial streaming service can be a felony
- Site blocking
- No court site-blocking regime for piracy; bills introduced in 2025 and 2026 had not passed by September 2026
- Licensed live TV
- Internet live TV services, cable and satellite, free ad-supported streaming channels, and free over-the-air TV with an antenna
- British TV
- BritBox (BBC Studios), in the US since March 2017. BBC iPlayer doesn’t work outside the UK
- Time vs UK
- New York usually 5 hours behind; Chicago 6; Denver 7; Los Angeles 8
Checked September 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is IPTV legal in the USA?
The US is one of the biggest markets for licensed IPTV. Internet-delivered live TV services that carry the major networks and cable channels, sold as monthly subscriptions and watched through apps, are a normal alternative to cable and satellite. All of them are IPTV in the technical sense.
The line, as everywhere, is licensing. A service that sells access to channels it has no rights to is infringing copyright, however professional its app looks. For a checklist that works in any country, see is IPTV legal?.
The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020
Until 2020, illegal streaming was generally treated as a misdemeanour in US criminal law, while illegal downloading and distribution of copies could be a felony. The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act, signed on 27 December 2020 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, closed that gap by creating a new offence, 18 U.S.C. § 2319C.
It applies to anyone who willfully, and for commercial advantage or private financial gain, offers the public a digital transmission service that:
- is primarily designed or provided to publicly perform copyrighted works without authorisation,
- has no commercially significant purpose other than that, or
- is intentionally marketed to promote that use.
The law is aimed at the operators of unlicensed services. Its legislative history says it isn’t meant to expose mainstream providers or their customers to felony charges. But “not a felony for viewers” doesn’t make a service legal to buy from: you’re still paying someone with no right to sell what they’re selling, and there’s no recourse when it disappears.
Why the US has no site blocking (yet)
The UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada and much of Europe let courts order internet providers to block unlicensed services. The US doesn’t have that power for copyright. Several bills would create it:
| Bill | Introduced | What it proposes |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (H.R. 791) | January 2025, House | Court orders requiring ISPs to block foreign sites and services primarily dedicated to infringement |
| Block BEARD Act | July 2025, Senate | Courts designate “foreign digital piracy sites” that ISPs must block |
| DEFEND IP Act | September 2026, House and Senate | Court-ordered blocking of foreign piracy sites |
None had become law when we checked in September 2026. Until one does, enforcement in the US relies on lawsuits and criminal cases against operators, domain seizures and takedowns rather than blocking at the provider level.
Licensed ways to watch TV in the USA
| Option | What you get | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Over-the-air | Local network affiliates through an antenna | Free; some markets broadcast in ATSC 3.0 (“NextGen TV”) |
| Internet live TV services | Local and cable channels streamed through an app, with a cloud DVR | Monthly subscription, no contract; channel line-ups vary by service and zip code |
| Free ad-supported streaming (FAST) | Hundreds of free linear channels | Built into many smart TVs and streaming devices |
| Cable and satellite | Traditional pay-TV | Often with a contract and equipment fees |
| British programmes | BritBox (BBC Studios) | Available in the US since March 2017 |
All of these apps run on the devices people use for IPTV players. See our guides to Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and Google TV, and the comparison of IPTV vs satellite and cable.
Watching UK TV from the USA
- BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. You can watch programmes downloaded while in the UK, but not stream live from the US.
- BritBox is the licensed option for many British programmes.
- VPNs: using one to appear in the UK usually breaks the terms of UK streaming services and doesn’t make an unlicensed service legitimate. See IPTV and VPNs.
Time zones and the TV guide
The US changes its clocks on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, a few weeks away from the UK’s dates, so for part of March and of October to November the gap is an hour less than usual.
| City | Usually behind the UK by |
|---|---|
| New York, Miami, Atlanta | 5 hours |
| Chicago, Dallas, Houston | 6 hours |
| Denver | 7 hours |
| Phoenix (no daylight saving) | 7 hours (UK winter) or 8 hours (UK summer) |
| Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle | 8 hours |
If UK guide listings appear at the wrong times in your player, set the guide offset; our EPG offset calculator works it out.
Before you pay for any service
- Check the business: a real company, US or otherwise, with terms, a refund policy and a way to contact it.
- Be wary of “every channel” for a fraction of normal prices, lifetime plans and crypto-only payment.
- Prefer monthly billing and free trials, so a shutdown costs you little.