While media rights holders miss out on $28bn, the consequences of illegal streams are far darker than lost revenue, putting the region’s economy, employment, data protection and personal safety at risk, says Cameron Andrews.
Whenever the subject of television piracy comes up in mainstream media, analogies tend to – somewhat understandably – liken it to a battle on the high seas, captains versus crooks. Unfortunately, such a metaphor is misplaced and threatens to underplay the importance and dangers of the ongoing billion-dollar fight our industry is facing.
Whenever I find myself discussing the issue of piracy with people outside the broadcast industry, I liken TV pirates to parasites. A parasite will eventually overwhelm and kill its host, and these well-organised businesses that are making huge amounts of money from stealing from the legitimate industry are no different. They will ultimately undermine and ruin the very services upon which they and their users depend. When that happens, everyone suffers.
Last year, in a bid to tackle piracy operations that threaten the sports broadcasting and streaming industry, beIN joined a live streaming piracy task force put together by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the world’s premier antipiracy association. Our partnership has already borne fruit, bringing down a Morocco-based operation just days before the 2022 World Cup, as well as several other pirate website rings affecting MENA.
Coming together to conceptualise and agree on strategy, beIN and the ACE task force focus on the companies that provide the internet hosting services used by pirates for their illegal services. The task force also investigates and brings legal enforcement action against the pirates themselves. The fight is both complex and continual, and one the industry cannot afford to lose.
A study published last year by Synamedia and market research firm Ampere Analysis found sports service providers and rights holders are missing out on up to $28bn in new revenue. While consumers may not care that a major corporation is missing out on additional billions, the less obvious knock-on effects are where the real focus should be. This is not only a question of huge losses.
Piracy does not support the local economy or jobs. More specifically, wherever there are high levels of piracy, it sends a strong message that the country is one in which intellectual property rights are not respected, a place where investment in building up local industries and jobs is risk-laden. Not only that, but users have no idea who is behind the illegal services they are using, where their money is going, or what is happening with their data and personal information.
We have seen many examples of set-top boxes sold for piracy in MENA with hidden functionality that allows them to be hijacked and used by the pirates to launch cyber-attacks. Pirate users also expose themselves to cyber risks in the form of malware, data capture or taking remote control of connected devices whenever they use pirated services.
The Synamedia report found that 48% of sports fans surveyed do not pay for their illegal streaming service. Yet do not be fooled. Users may not see it at point of sale or when dealing with their point of contact, but without doubt the sophisticated criminals behind the service are generating huge revenues, regardless of which of the three types of pirated streams they are providing: set-top boxes, websites or social media feeds.
While set-top-box services are typically monetised through subscription fees, websites and social media streams benefit primarily from online advertising and malware. And make no mistake, users may think their stream is free of charge, but as the adage goes: If you are not paying for a product, then you are the product.
Another consequence of piracy is that when companies such as beIN face such huge revenue losses, it hampers the ability to invest in high-quality production. Legitimate broadcasters provide local jobs in distribution, production, translation, communications and so much more; they generate much-needed tax revenues to bolster local and national economies; and they continually invest and innovate in cybersecurity.
Piracy also raises doubts about the value of television rights when it comes to securing major sporting events. This, for the consumer, is the end game, the moment the parasite self-cannibalises. When a broadcaster reaches a point at which buying the rights to an event is no longer financially worthwhile, it will refuse to pay. Without television rights money, films and series will fail to be made, sports leagues and clubs will suffer, the media industry will sorely lack investment, and the overall quality of broadcast content will diminish until eventually the output fades to black. So while it is easy to plead for the public to say no to piracy, stakeholders must also continue to increase their defences. Our industry, and rights-holders in particular, are no longer sleepwalking towards a financial cliff as in previous years, but there remains much room for improvement. Stronger efforts are necessary from sports and entertainment organisers, greater determination from the authorities is essential, and sharing best practices at a global level, as we do today in Doha, must continue.
