❝ The line between piracy and legitimate services has been markedly blurred .❞
www . apb-news . com
12 WEDNESDAY
@ ConnecTechAsia2018
27 June 2018
IPTV piracy and Kodi plug-ins are the big threat to pay-TV
BY SIMON TRUDELLE
From smart cards and cloned cards , to control word sharing and even footage filmed in the back rows of cinemas , piracy has evolved time and time again over the years . Recently , we have witnessed yet another incarnation — IPTV piracy and Kodi plugins . This kind of piracy represents a more complex and costly issue for providers than ever before .
Previous kinds of TV piracy required , on the whole , some degree of specialist knowledge and equipment for pirated content to be distributed and accessed . Take modified original smart cards ( MOSC ), cloned cards , or other forms of signal piracy , for example . These were relatively complex for consumers to engage in because they required specialised skills like smart card reprogramming .
But now , IPTV services and Kodi plug-ins have completely altered the landscape . The latest HD blockbusters were never readily available at low cost ( or for free ) — nor were they distributed in such an insidious way . Today , they are .
IPTV services and Kodi plug-ins mimic legitimate services , often featuring coherent , well-designed user interfaces . Many use electronic programme guide ( EPG ) menus , a format familiar to most TV viewers . They are also usually Android or Linux-based — legitimate , user-friendly operating systems with reputable brand recognition . And for the more tech-savvy user , they offer a level of customisability — consumers have the option to add extra content-specific plug-ins as if they were choosing their own subscription plan .
The result of this ? The line between piracy and legitimate services has been markedly blurred .
The now typical features of these illegal services combine to create a unique , attractive user experience . Some even offer customer support and troubleshooting functions thanks to the help of open source tools .
Because of these sorts of features , it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between legal services and their pirated counterparts . Why would consumers have any reason to believe their service is illegitimate ?
The insidious nature of IPTV services and Kodi plug-ins is not the only threat it poses . The kinds of content it affects are also something both
IPTV piracy and Kodi plug-ins represent a more complex and costly issue for providers than ever before , says NAGRA , who is exhibiting at CommunicAsia2018 , booth 1J2-01 .
producers and distributors should consider . These illegal services hit high-budget and premium content programming hardest , as consumers look to circumvent paywalls and charges for high-quality content .
HBO ’ s award-winning Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV show of 2016 , while live football — the leading source of pay-TV revenue — is consistently pirated not just in Asia-Pacific or in the UK , but all over the world .
If this continues at the current rate , it may likely dissuade content producers from investing such large sums in the creation of premium content . Consequently , there will be less high-budget attraction content to form part of a provider ’ s service offering . In turn , if certain pay-TV providers lack the sufficient antipiracy measures to safeguard content that is likely to be pirated , why would producers entrust them in the first place ?
Whether or not anti-piracy measures are within their budget , the changing state of piracy will force pay-TV providers to act sooner rather than later — strategies for tracking and preventing piracy are becoming a bigger priority , whether providers like it or not .
Rather than focus on , say , improving hardware or increasing subscriber base , providers will now have to think about other areas of the business — from forensic watermarking and intelligence to monitoring and even resources for legal action .
In addition , providers are increasingly faced with the uniquely un settling task of directly competing with illegal services — not just in terms of pricing but also the range of content on offer and even the user experience . In Asia-Pacific , pay-TV providers ’ number one competitor is pay- TV signal piracy .
PHOTO CREDIT : ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES
From service providers to content owners and third-party vendors , such as social media sites and payment vendors , it is safe to say that it takes a village to take on pirates .
Threats to broadcast systems , IPconnected devices , the latest Kodi add-ons , and the cultural and moral entertainment standards by regions are forcing studios , sports rights owners , pay-TV service providers , and even government entities to take action to understand , manage and disrupt the ecosystem in which piracy operates .
So what does the industry need to do about IPTV services and Kodi plug-ins ?
Firstly , content owners and distributors need to accept there is no silver bullet for tackling this form of piracy — it entails industry-wide collaboration on a number of fronts .
One piece of the puzzle is NAGRA ‘ s Anti-Piracy Intelligence Portal — a monitoring platform that offers a real-time view of worldwide online piracy trends , threat statuses , plus news and in-depth reports . Providers can obtain details of the illegal services impacting their content , along with information on the infrastructure behind illegal services .
In the meantime , distributors also need to ensure that the quality of their service , from the user experience to the range of content offer , is the best it can possibly be . If piracy is blurring the line between legitimate and illegal services , it is up to the providers to re- establish the boundary between pirated content and the real thing .
❝ The line between piracy and legitimate services has been markedly blurred .❞
— Simon Trudelle , Senior Director ,
Product Marketing ,
NAGRA