87% of Russian consumers don’t know that producing or sharing pirated video is illegal.
Furthermore, according to an online poll undertaken by Irdeto in partnership with YouGov, 66% think that streaming or downloading pirate content is legal.
The survey also found that over half of respondents (57%) said they actively watch pirated content and nearly a quarter (22%) did so at least once a week.
Despite being told that pirating video content results in studios losing money, which affects both the quality and amount of investment in new movies and TV shows, almost half (48%) of those surveyed said it would have no impact on their illegal video consumption. In fact, only 12% said it makes them want to stop watching pirated content completely, after discovering this fact.
When it comes to the most popular pirated content, the survey found that 38% of consumers who watch pirated content prefer to pirate movies that are currently being shown in the cinema. In addition, 21% of consumers are most interested in pirating a TV series. In Russia, live sports, OTT original content from Netflix, Hulu and others are not as popular, with all three categories being preferred by fewer than 6% of respondents. In terms of methods used to watch or access pirated content, 75% of consumers who watch pirated content do so on their laptop or computer most often rather than their tablet (5%) or smartphone (4% Android, 1% Apple iOS).
Separately, Irdeto has announced that its CA has been deployed to over 2 million subscribers of the Russian telco MTS. Irdeto started working with MTS in 2012 in the framework of cable TV services, and then became one of the partners for providing satellite services in 2015. Today, its CA is present in hundreds of head ends for MTS digital TV, delivering signals to set-top boxes and CA modules.
Commenting on the development, Natalia Bratchikova, marketing director of fixed line business and TV, PAO MTS, said: “Over the past 5 years, MTS and Irdeto have built a strong and close relationship that enables us to grow in a flexible and secure way.
“Since our time working together, there have been no piracy cases reported and our relationship has evolved to include engineering workshops and additional support. Irdeto helps us make sure we make the most of the latest technologies.”
Natalya Romanova, regional director, Russia and CIS, Irdeto, added: “MTS has built a strong reputation as the highest quality operator in the region. Our longstanding partnership demonstrates how important it is that operators have the flexibility to scale their offerings without being constrained by security technology.
“The single system that we have deployed across this geographically diverse market shows how security can be effective, efficiently managed and promote cost savings.”
