The piracy of pay-TV services is on the wane in Poland but still remains a problem. At the same time, the public seem to have an ambivalent attitude to the issue.
According to Rzeczpospolita, a study undertaken earlier this month by GfK Polonia on behalf the TV Programme Distributors’ Association (Sygnal) found that 47% of respondents were aware that there were ways to receive TV services illegally and 5% knew “a lot” about the subject.
Up to 65% said they would turn a blind eye to someone they knew was watching such services illegally, though only 7% would be willing to do so themselves.
There has been a clampdown on TV signal piracy in the last few years in Poland, with Sygnal pursuing around 1,000 cases since 2006, when losses were put at PLN60 million (€14.5 million).
The problem seems to centre increasingly on the sharing of smart cards rather than the use of forged ones.
