An alliance of content owners, including streaming content providers, has identified some key global challenges to an expanding legal digital marketplace.

That came in their annual submission to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on how the government can make sure its trading partners protect copyright and get rid of barriers to digital trade in video, video games and other content.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), in its submission for the USTR's Special 301 report on trading partners and content protection, made what it said were key trends and recommendations.

Among the alarming trends IIPA identified was the proliferation of piracy devices, with set-tops weaponized for unauthorized access to streaming video, games and music, with China the major source of those devices.

Another big problem, it suggested, were stream-ripping services that circumvent copyright protections that are critical to digital deliveries, whether streamed, downloaded or in physical form.

IIPA also said many of the U.S. trading partners have yet to agree to, or to implement, the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet Treaties and its minimum copyright standards.

IIPA member groups include MPA, the Entertainment Software Association, and the Independent Film & Television Association. ■

Online piracy is on the rise and the “television” category, which includes streaming services, is the biggest target.

That’s according to the latest State of the Internet (SOTI) report from Akamai, “Pirates in the Outfield,” which found that piracy was up 16% across all categories studied.

“Each day, hundreds of millions of connections to piracy websites are recorded, proving that the public’s appetite for streaming content is only growing, and their choice of access is fluid,” the report concluded.

Also: Court Fines Dish-Infringing Streamer $7M

Online security company Akamai looked at visits to piracy websites between January and September 2021 and found that demand for pirated television content — either directly via a browser or app, or via torrent downloads — totaled 3.7 billion unlicensed streams and downloads.

Most users accessed the pirate sites directly (61.5%), while only 28.6% searched for them.

Television was the top pirated industry by a wide margin, with 67 billion total site visits, followed by publishing at 30 billion, film at 14.5 billion, music at 10.8 billion and software, which includes video games, at 8.9 billion.

And the U.S. had the dubious distinction of being home to the most pirated countries at 13.5 billion visits to piracy websites, followed by Russia at 7.2 billion, India at 6.5 billion, China with 5.9 billion and Brazil rounding out the top five with 4.5 billion.

The report advises broadcasters and streaming services to help defend themselves by addressing “workflow issues and API-based problems since those are areas of exploitation for pirates, who often take multiple lines of attack.” ■

The one-two punch of a pandemic and online piracy is a big problem, thanks in part to the increased appetite for video streaming during COVID-19.

That is the conclusion of a new research survey from the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA).

With millions working from home, including on sensitive and confidential government work, DCA said there is a substantially raised threat level of malware and cybersecurity breaches if those workers have piracy devices or apps at home as well, what it calls "a toxic combination for cybersecurity."

The SurveyMonkey research study commissioned by DCA found that the one in 10 people who had such devices or apps were three times more likely to report a malware issue than those without them, which is a big problem if those at-home workers are in corporate finance, national security, government, medicine or the law. In addition, one in five said they had at least visited a pirate website.

Fully half of those who both identified themselves as working in jobs handling sensitive or confidential information and who had a piracy device in their home reported having "an issue" with malware in the past year, compared to only 17% for those who did not have a piracy device.

“When tens of millions of Americans were forced to work from home, it created a golden opportunity for hackers to mine their computers for sensitive information,” said Tom Galvin, executive director of the DCA, of the study findings. “Many Americans don’t realize that they open a window to their home when they plug a piracy device into their network. And if they work in jobs that can affect the economy or national security, for example, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

One of the key ingredients, CDA said, was Trojan Horse of streaming as the "go-to" method for watching TV shows and movies, an opportunity hackers seized to spread malware.

For example, said DCA, not long after a researcher downloaded a piracy app, malware had forwarded their Wi-Fi network name and password to a server that was apparently in Indonesia. And what was once thought as a big threat to at-home consumers has been transformed into a threat to businesses small and large now that so much of that business is being transacted from home, where malware could transfer from home to work computers via a home network.

The key takeaways include:

1. Not surprisingly, a majority (two-thirds) of respondents said they have been watching more TV shows and movies during the pandemic, with the 18-29 demo mostly likely (71%) to say that has been the case.
2. About half (52%) said there was "more than enough" content to satisfy their increased appetite for video.
3. About 20% said they visit pirate websites and about 10% said they have a pirate device or app, with a third to them saying they got them online, which DCA said its research has found are being "peddled" via Facebook, Craigslist and eBay, among other sites.

The online poll was conducted Feb. 3-4 among 3,634 U.S. residents 18-plus. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

About 39% of respondents to a recent survey said that they don’t care about the financial damage that video piracy inflicts on studios and other segments of the media industry.

And a sizable portion – about 32% -- of consumers admitted that they watch pirated content, according to a survey of 1,190 U.S. adults by YouGov that was commissioned by security specialist Irdeto.

Per the study, just 19% said the financial damage caused by piracy would stop them from watching purloined content altogether.

The study also found that 69% believe that streaming or downloading pirate content is illegal, meaning that a 31% think it’s totally above board.

Those findings, of course, are good for Irdeto, which believes that they indicate that content owners, movie studios and service providers should invest in additional content protection strategies to prevent pirates from stealing shows and movies and cutting into their legitimate businesses. Irdeto also believes that these issues cut even deeper.

“The negative impact that piracy has on the content creation industry extends much further than lost revenue,” Lawrence Low, VP of business development and sales at Irdeto, said in a statement. “Piracy deters content creators from investing in new content, impacting the creative process and providing consumers with less choice. It is becoming increasingly important for operators and movie studios to educate consumers on the tactics employed by pirates and to further promote innovative offerings that allow consumers to legally acquire content.”

Among other findings, 24% of consumers who watch pirated content are most interested in watching TV series, while the same percentage were most interested in prirated movies that are currently showing in theaters.

According to TorrentFreak, a site focused on file-sharing and privacy and copyright issues, HBO’s Game of Thrones was again the most-torrented TV show. Deadpool, it said, was the most pirated movie of 2016, ahead of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Irdeto/YouGov study also found that consumers are likewise interested in pirating DVD and Blu-ray movies (18%), live sports (10%), and originals from OTT services such as Netflix and Hulu (9%). 

On Sept. 17, the WBO Light Middleweight Championship fight between Canelo Alvarez and Liam Smith was offered via pay-per-view at $65 a pop, with several news outlets estimating that maybe 300,000 people shelled out money for the boxing match.

But how many people watched the fight via illegal streaming online? An estimated 1.82 million, according to data from antipiracy company VFT Solutions, which tracks online streams in real time. VFT found a total of 710 illegal streams of the fight, with one stream alone drawing more than twice as many viewers as had paid for the legal telecast.

And PPV boxing is just the tip of the illegal streaming iceberg: VFT sees regular, linear and OTT broadcasts of everything from the NFL to college football to English Premier League and UEFA Champions League soccer streamed illegally on a regular basis. Millions of consumers are taking advantage of these free streams, risking malware and dealing with poor quality, rather than paying for the channels.

HD STREAMS, TOO

Moreover, more than 12,000 pirated HDTV streams were served in the past month, according to piracy-monitoring firm Friend MTS, which shows that even 1080p resolution isn’t safely in the realm of pay TV operators.

To date, content owners have been left dealing with this problem by employing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown process, with websites, search engines and hosting companies notified of the offending streams. But that whack-a-mole approach can’t eliminate every offending stream, due to the sheer volume of what’s become available.

Enter Cisco Systems.

The networking technology company is now testing a solution to fight streaming piracy that works directly with the service providers distributing content, rather than rightsholders. Called Streaming Piracy Prevention (SPP ), the service’s technology locates illicit content on both the open Internet and in closed networks that might require a subscription.

Once identified, the source is tracked down using forensic watermarking and then shuttered via Cisco’s video security system, “essentially revoking entitlement,” according to Amit Wohl, the video security product manager in Cisco Systems’ service provider organization.

“The ability to do this in near-real time is what makes this solution different, better and more effective at dealing with piracy, especially when you talk about live events,” Wohl said. “The ability to detect that someone is [pirating] an event from your network and dealing with it within seconds is what makes the difference.”

KNOWING WHERE TO LOOK

Asked how the solution differentiates between legal and illegal streams, Wohl stressed that Cisco’s team “knows where to find illegal content.” Sites and services that stream illegally don’t hide themselves all that well, he said.

“Once we know where they are, we can sample the video and compare it with the [legal] content,” Wohl said. “If it’s coming from our service … and once we know the identity of the source device, we can shut it down.”

Essentially, development of Cisco’s offering — which is currently in pilot testing — came about after the company’s service- provider customers expressed concern that their services were being used to steal content. Since legal remedies haven’t been able to keep up with the illegal streams — and as pirate services begin delivering channel packages to connected devices and IPTV set-tops — a technological solution became the best recourse, Wohl said.

There may not be a silver bullet to eliminate digital piracy, but Cisco and Wohl said they hope their solution will at least put a dent into the problem, if it goes to market.