civolution_c 03/10/2014 03:05 Page 1
Combating live content piracy
ver the past several years, antipiracy analysts have
documented the transition of
casual content piracy away from
Torrent networks to streaming sites
which provide immediate access to not
only file-based pirated content, such as
movies and TV episodes, but also live TV
broadcasts.
Since live content such as professional
sports and Pay Per View (PPV) events have
only one release window, their market value
immediately depreciates if they can be
streamed live
through
unauthorised
sources. Thus,
there is a
recognised need
to act as close to
real time as
possible in the
case of live
content piracy,
and to accordingly
O
According to Andy
Nobbs, chief marketing
officer at Civolution, live
streaming content
requires live security
protections.
implement new anti-piracy methods and
technologies that shorten the detection time
needed to identify and shut down an illegal
stream.
In working toward online detection of
forensic watermarks from streaming content,
we at Civolution seek to enable new tools
designed to identify the pirate source in just
minutes. With the ability to detect an illegal
video stream through our technology of
session-based forensic watermarking, it is
possible for an operator to disable a set-top
box or streaming client while the transmission
is still in progress.
The shift away from Torrent networks
to streaming sites
There is little doubt that content piracy has
gone mainstream. While finding and
downloading content on a Torrent network
20 ContentSecurity
required special software, keeping it just out of
reach for the casual internet user and content
consumer, a new generation of streaming sites
and apps such as Popcorn Time have enabled a
point-and-click user experience that can rival
even leading legitimate sites.
In its paper, Sizing the Piracy Universe,
NetNames has documented an increase of over
471% in bandwidth usage for watching pirated
content during the period from 2010 to 2012.
The rise in piracy of broadcast and pay-TV
signals through retransmission as a live stream
has necessitated new strategies for detection of
an illegal video stream.
In the days of Torrent sites, when the
dominant threat was posed by file sharing, the
most effective tools for tracing the source of
the pirate content were traditionally designed
to deliver accurate results within hours. This
time-frame was both reasonable and effective
for identifying and pursuing the removal of
illegally shared movie releases and TV
episodes. The new move toward live streaming
piracy, however, is leading to a different set of
business concerns, especially for the areas of
programming which depend on their live dayand-date nature to extract full value—most
notably live sports and PPV events.
The rise of Sports and Pay Per View
pirate streaming
Sporting events are incredibly reliant on their
live character. No two games are ever the
same, and once the broadcast has ended, the
content has a significantly reduced value—
apart from game highlights—to the owner, and
equally little to pirates and consumers of
pirated content. Although sporting events can
be blacked-out in some broadcast markets, or
made available by subscription only, they are
frequently retransmitted via illegal streaming
sites such as Sopcast or ACE Stream. Takedown notices typically have little effect in
battling illegal sporting event streams since the
original stream is often syndicated through
numerous reflector sites that make identifying
the original source slow and difficult.
Therefore, the only effective means to disrupt
this form of piracy is one which identifies the
exact device that is providing the original
source stream.
Illegal re-transmissions of PPV events have
a direct impact on revenue to the event
promoter and the service provider delivering