Piracy crackdown in South Africa — up to 10 years jail time for viewers
South Africa’s dominant pay-TV provider, MultiChoice, is cracking down on pirate streaming in the country, and while it is going after those involved in pirate platforms themselves, consumers of such content could land themselves in jail if caught.
In South Africa, the punishment for viewing illegal streaming services is a fine of R5,000 or three years in jail for first-time offenders and R10,000 or five years for repeat offenders, according to the Copyright Act.
However, South Africans can be tried in terms of different legislation.
Anti-piracy director at MultiChoice-owned Irdeto, Frikkie Jonker, says individuals who consume pirated content could face a fine, up to 10 years in jail, or both.
According to the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020, these punishments can apply to anyone who accesses a computer storage medium on which pirated content is kept.
They also apply to individuals who unlawfully intercept data or possess intercepted data. This includes acquiring, viewing, copying, or capturing non-public data using hardware or software.
Internet protocol television (IPTV) services are a modern form of Internet piracy that has become popular during the streaming era.
Many IPTV platforms feature pirated content from various streaming services around the world.
Since IPTV services lift content from other platforms and don’t have to pay the associated production or licensing costs, they can offer impossibly low monthly prices, making them attractive to consumers.
DStv-owner MultiChoice is cracking down on illegal streaming services like Waka TV in South Africa. In raids carried out with authorities, customer details have been confiscated in some instances.
During a raid in Germiston in early September 2024, authorities seized various Waka TV equipment, including a cellphone containing the details of individuals who had paid to use the service.
“Investigators have now broadened the scope of the investigation, with authorities expecting further arrests related to this network,” MultiChoice said in a statement.
However, even if MultiChoice wanted to pursue individuals who viewed content on pirate streaming services, it told MyBroadband that authorities would not share pirate TV customer details with the broadcaster.
The role of Internet service providers
US copyright owners often employ firms to monitor torrent trackers for people downloading their content.
Since BitTorrent exposes people’s IP addresses, these firms can often determine which Internet service provider (ISP) a downloader is on unless they use a virtual private network.
Once they have identified the ISP, these copyright enforcement firms send out abuse notices demanding that the service provider take action against their user, or face consequences.
South African ISPs typically don’t respond to these abuse notices as they have no meaning under local law.
They are also not allowed to monitor customer activity for potential copyright infringement.
The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) says several laws govern how ISPs may run their businesses. For example, they are bound by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
“They are required to ensure that any collection and processing of personal information is lawfully done in accordance with POPIA’s provisions,” ISPA stated.
“ISPs are required by law to collect and store customer information — through the RICA customer registration process — and to make this available to law enforcement agencies, where lawfully requested to do so.”
“This is very different from collecting and storing customer communications, which is not done.”
It added that ISPs are not required by law to police their networks and services.
Doing so would likely lead to substantial broadband price increases as keeping tabs on the online activity of all of an ISP’s users would require immense time and resources.
South African ISPs generally operate on slim margins, with employees primarily dedicated to providing high-quality customer service.
Any law adding onerous compliance requirements would break this model.
That said, ISPA noted that ISPs do help law enforcement in some situations, including cases related to gender-based violence.
“Amendments to the Domestic Violence Act require ISPs to take down online material forming part of the domestic violence and to provide information about alleged perpetrators,” ISPA stated.
“Similarly, ISPs are obliged to provide information to the courts about people alleged to be guilty of harassment or defaulting on maintenance payments.”