Live streaming piracy is posing a major threat to both content service providers and content owners, leaving them competing with illegal services that offer the same content at a much lower costs. This worrying trend in the way pay-TV is pirated is the focus of a new white paper from Viaccess-Orca and Civolution.
Unlawful, live redistribution of content has become an increasing headache over the last five years as technological advances have made possible the streaming of high-quality video content over the internet, making it simpler and cheaper to consume.
Pirates today have been quick to capitalise on the development, paying for one legal subscription to a content service and then distributing it illegally through multiple retransmissions.
Consumers are turning to pirated services for two primary reasons: content may be unavailable in some areas due to blackout or rights issues; and rising subscription prices driven by content service providers’ need to invest in high quality programming.
The pirates have exploited the greater availability of bandwidth and the technology that facilitates retransmission to such an extent that now premium live sports events can be viewed illegally across much of the world without much loss of quality.
Consumers often have little idea that they are signing up to illegal content services, as they are promoted on professional, legitimate-looking websites with advanced programming guides, credit and card payment facilities and even season tickets.
To find out more about how to combat live streaming piracy, you can download the Keeping an Eye on Piracy – White Paper here.
