Push for ISPs to block people streaming from illegal sites
DStv owner MultiChoice recently told MyBroadband it has actively advocated for legislative reforms to combat illegal streaming websites through multiple submissions to government authorities.
South African Internet service providers (ISPs) can only monitor customers’ Internet traffic under certain circumstances, meaning they are largely unable to help MultiChoice in its fight against streaming piracy in the country.
DStv owner MultiChoice has been cracking down on streaming piracy in South Africa, with the pay-TV broadcaster making a string of related arrests in recent months.
This may have made many of the country’s residents concerned about whether their ISPs monitor their traffic.
However, doing so would require sweeping legal changes and put a severe administrative burden on ISPs to monitor for potentially infringing traffic.
Considering that ISPs have to operate on slim margins and must dedicate all available staff and capital to providing high-quality customer service, this would be a waste of money for them.
According to the Internet Service Providers Association of South Africa (ISPA), several laws govern how ISPs must operate their businesses.
The legislation includes communication interception and monitoring laws that prohibit ISPs from intercepting and monitoring subscribers’ use without a lawful justification. They must also adhere to the Protection of Personal Information Act.
“They are required to ensure that any collection and processing of personal information is lawfully done in accordance with POPIA’s provisions,” said ISPA.
However, it added that ISPs are required to collect and store customer information and make it available to law enforcement agencies when requested to do so.
“This is very different from collecting and storing customer communications, which is not done,” it said.
The Cybercrimes Act and other legislation don’t mandate ISPs to monitor the data they transmit or store or actively look for unlawful activity.
“ISPs are not required by law to police their networks and services,” ISPA stated.
However, ISPs must assist law enforcement in addressing gender-based violence in the country.
“Recent 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,” said ISPA.
“Similarly, ISPs are obliged to provide information to the courts about people alleged to be guilty of harassment or defaulting on maintenance payments.”
Where there is interaction between ISPs and law enforcement, it is heavily regulated.
MyBroadband asked Afrihost, RSAWeb, and Webafrica for feedback on their respective approaches to Internet piracy in South Africa, but they hadn’t answered our questions by publication.
DStv streaming piracy crackdown
MultiChoice has been clamping down on streaming piracy in South Africa, having made several arrests of players involved in illegal streaming services in recent months.
Moreover, Frikkie Jonker, the anti-piracy director for broadcast and cybersecurity at MultiChoice-owned Irdeto, said the company could soon target consumers of illegal streaming services.
He warned that MultiChoice will consider legal action against them once criminal proceedings against operators are completed.
“We are going after the whole ecosystem,” said Jonker.
MultiChoice’s recent arrests include individuals allegedly distributing pirate streaming devices and login credentials for platforms like Waka TV.
Once these cases are finalised, the broadcaster may pursue those who paid for and used such services.
“When we get to the point where criminal proceedings have been finalised, then we know who the users of these illegal services are, and then we will consider going after them as well,” he said.
“We, as MultiChoice, then can initiate civil litigation action and even criminal action against those people.”
Jonker also explained how the broadcaster identifies and closes DStv accounts linked to illegal streaming services.
“We have identification tools that we can use to analyse a stream of a pirate operation. By analysing it, we can say that the stream is using account number’ 123′, and then we take that account down,” he said.