{"id":559834,"date":"2024-09-11T06:59:23","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T04:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=559834"},"modified":"2024-09-11T07:01:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T05:01:13","slug":"netflix-piracy-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/559834-netflix-piracy-crackdown.html","title":{"rendered":"Netflix piracy crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Streaming giant Netflix takes a relatively laid-back approach to fighting streaming piracy compared to MultiChoice, which actively pursues illegal streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Netflix has cracked down hard on password sharing, with systems in place to detect and block people from regularly viewing content in multiple locations using the same account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The streaming giant has seen a marked reduction in piracy in the countries in which it has operated the longest, such as the US, Canada, and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netflix’s biggest asset in its fight against piracy is its push to secure global rights and simultaneously release originals in all regions in which it operates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This eliminates the need for users to resort to piracy to watch content that hasn’t yet been released in their region, protecting the work produced by the creative community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People are willing to pay a fair price for content they love \u2014 and this is especially true if they can watch it on their own terms without hassle, versus resorting to piracy,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When piracy does happen, we address it with a variety of tools.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, DStv owner MultiChoice has come down hard on pirate streaming services in the country in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broadcaster said fighting piracy of its DStv channels is one of its most significant challenges<\/a>. It believes many South Africans don’t realise that doing so is illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Irdeto broadcast cybersecurity and anti-piracy director Frikkie Jonker, circumventing cybersecurity measures isn’t difficult for pirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irdeto is a global digital rights management and cybersecurity firm that also looks after MultiChoice’s anti-piracy interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonker explained that Africa has weak barriers to entry for pirating content, making it attractive to criminals looking to make easy money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In terms of penetration success \u2014 circumventing cybersecurity measures \u2014 they may achieve a success rate of 70%, which compares favourably with other territories,” he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This \u2014 coupled with Africa’s billion-strong population \u2014 is a key supply driver of content piracy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonker said a change of attitude towards content piracy is needed, as many people do not view the activity as a crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Changing people’s attitude to the crime of content piracy has to be an industry-wide campaign,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The creative industry must unite and address the issue collectively \u2014 as they have done through pan-African initiatives like Partners Against Piracy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonker says his team at Irdeto can quickly track and prosecute content rapidly, accurately, and at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Piracy is often a multi-level operation, with global and regional headquarters, as well as regional resellers,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is now also possible for content owners and police to identify criminals at every level of these operations, as well as those who consume pirated content.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that cracking down on piracy helps protect the welfare of creators, producers, and rightsholders, as well as thousands of jobs the creative industry sustains across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Frikkie Jonker, Irdeto director of broadcast cybersecurity and anti-piracy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

String of arrests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice’s crackdown on streaming piracy has stepped up in recent months, with the DStv owner announcing the arrest of several individuals allegedly tied to illegal streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 9 September 2024, the company announced the arrest of a suspect allegedly involved in Waka TV. The suspect was apprehended during a raid in Germiston the week before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“During the raid, the suspect was apprehended for allegedly aiding one of the investigation’s informants,” said MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The suspect is accused of allegedly providing an illegal Internet streaming device intended to facilitate unauthorised access to SuperSport content. This violation directly impacts broadcasters such as DStv.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that more raids and arrests were imminent. MultiChoice’s announcement followed several similar announcements earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late July, the DStv owner confirmed the arrest of a suspect in Gauteng. According to MultiChoice, the suspect also allegedly sold login credentials and pirate streaming devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early June, it announced the arrest of an individual who was also allegedly involved in Waka TV. The suspect appeared in court on 3 June 2024, facing charges of fraud and contravening the Cybercrimes Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day later, MultiChoice said another raid had resulted in the arrest of an individual suspected of illegally selling Internet streaming devices that enabled access to DStv content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also managed several pirate customers and resellers who were believed to be selling similar devices. The content they distributed reportedly included DStv channels, movies, and series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Netflix’s approach to fighting streaming piracy involves a variety of tools and collaboration with other players in the space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":511358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[89240,96778,48496,475,2054,96961,86781,95177],"class_list":["post-559834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-frikkie-jonker","tag-illegal-streaming-services","tag-irdeto","tag-multichoice","tag-netflix","tag-pirate-streaming-services","tag-streaming-piracy","tag-waka-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559834"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559921,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559834\/revisions\/559921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}