Close to 5 million Italians now watch sports and movies illegally on IPTV.
Quoting data from Ipsos research commissioned by the Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content (Fapav), Il Sole 24 ore reports that three out of four pirates watch football, with the next most popular sports being Formula One, Moto GP and tennis.
All told, live sports events are pirated 21 million times a year, and IPTV has increased the possibility ten-fold. It is also the technology favoured by 35% of streaming pirates, and all told 4.6 million Italians over the age of 15 watch sports content illegally.
Illegal IPTV allows them to access all TV channels, including paid content, for between €10-15 a month. Moreover, many choose to pay by credit card, knowing the content is being offered illegally and their card is traceable.
Federico Bganoli Rossi, the president of Fapav, has estimated the impact of piracy on the industry in Italy to be over €1 billion and also putting 5,700 jobs at risk.
Meanwhile, Maria Vittoria De Simone, deputy national prosecutor of the DNA (national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism), has said that piracy results in the loss of €369 million to Italy’s GDP.
The most effective of fighting it is to adopt a “follow the money” strategy.
