{"id":596339,"date":"2025-05-28T10:59:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T08:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=596339"},"modified":"2025-05-28T11:01:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T09:01:22","slug":"warning-to-south-africans-using-pirate-streaming-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/596339-warning-to-south-africans-using-pirate-streaming-apps.html","title":{"rendered":"Warning to South Africans using pirate streaming apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans using pirate video streaming services not only risk infringing copyright laws but could be supporting criminal networks carrying out violent crimes in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They could also be compromising their information, bank card details, and home Internet network security to these criminals, risking financial and personal harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband recently noticed that one of South Africa’s biggest local community Facebook groups, “Eks Van Die Ooste”, frequently features people recommending that others use illegal IPTV services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the plethora of platforms streaming content without permission or licencing by their creators or owners are Waka TV, Watchlist Pro, and My Family Cinema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people cite DStv’s “high” prices as justification for using these services to watch live sports and argue that such piracy is a victimless crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illegal IPTV users boast about having access to thousands of live TV channels and a vast range of on-demand content at a fraction of the price of DStv or other streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past year, South Africa’s biggest broadcaster, MultiChoice, has been working with law enforcement to hunt down pirate streaming operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice’s copyright protection software company, Irdeto, undertook 233 anti-piracy cases between April 2024 and September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is an increase of 109% from the same period in the previous financial year. In recent months, the company has continued conducting raids on illegal IPTV operators’ premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irdeto’s director of broadcast cybersecurity and anti-piracy, Firkkie Jonker, has warned that the attention will begin shifting from distributors to users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MultiChoice has repeatedly highlighted how the use of illegal streaming services damages artists, filmmakers, and broadcasters’ income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The services themselves don’t spend a cent on creating the content but rely on the entertainment industry’s work. However, the damage can extend far beyond that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand why the services pose a threat, it is important to consider the nature of their providers and operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not just petty criminals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it is important to understand that pirate streaming operators have no issue with breaking the law; their main source of revenue depends on it. They also may not be petty criminals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In crackdowns overseas, law enforcement has found several illegal IPTV operations connected to other criminal organisations and crimes, including money laundering and cybercrime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2024, Europol and Eurojust took down<\/a> one of the biggest IPTV services in Europe and seized various drugs and weapons at some of the operators’ sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To a reasonable person, this should make the ethical dilemma associated with using an IPTV service far more complex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to robbing an actor or filmmaker of deserved income, they could be helping to fund actual robbers who carry out violent crimes halfway around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat may also be much closer to home. These services often require users to submit personal and bank card details, which could become a major problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many cybersecurity analyses of modified Android streaming devices and apps used to access illegal streaming platforms show that they send data to overseas servers and sometimes contain malware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the risk, some people are willing to share their card details and Google account login credentials with these operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to handing over your money and personal data to criminals, there is no guarantee that you will be getting quality service \u2014 or any service at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several people have recently complained that popular content like SuperSport’s live channels tends to be laggy on Waka TV during popular events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason for this is simple: Waka TV’s operators do not spend as much on data centre hosting, network capacity, or other supporting technologies as legitimate streaming providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they spent more, it is unlikely that they would be able to offer their service at the low prices that they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By paying for an illegal streaming service, you could be helping fund violent criminals halfway across the world, while also exposing your financial and personal security at their mercy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":554034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[2142,9695,27034,85,89240,98865,48496,475,96961],"class_list":["post-596339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-copyright-infringement","tag-crime","tag-criminals","tag-dstv","tag-frikkie-jonker","tag-iptv-services","tag-irdeto","tag-multichoice","tag-pirate-streaming-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596339"}],"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\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596339"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":596486,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596339\/revisions\/596486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}