ANTI-PIRACYENFORCEMENT

TOOLBOX

THE 4 ESSENTIALS TO INCLUDE IN

ANY ANTI-PIRACY ENFORCEMENT

TOOLBOX

Would you use a screwdriver to hammer a nail into a wall? Not very

effective. It’s the wrong tool for the job. The same is true in the world

of anti-piracy. You need the right tools and services for the different

threats.

Why is this important?

Online pirates are continually adapting. Unhindered by rules and

regulations pirates move at internet speed. To effectively fight online

piracy means keeping up to date with their latest activities. For

instance, we are seeing a rise in the use of app/plug-ins and devices

such as Kodi, as well as online brand exploitation and increasing levels

of OTT credential theft.

Having the right tools and services will ensure that your anti-piracy

activities are more effective in mitigating the impact of online pirates.

And on top of that, the return on investment from your allocated

budget will be greatly improved.

As there’s no one size fits all approach, the exact combination of

tools and services you need to include in your anti-piracy toolbox will

vary. In this e-book we take you through 4 examples and explain the

essential elements which are needed.

Getting started

Just like you would at home, before starting any major work it’s always

best to get a quote. Understand how extensive the problem is and

what is needed. This is no different for anti-piracy activities.

At the heart of defining your anti-piracy strategy is understanding

the nature and threat that you face. A threat assessment completed

by specialists is often a good place to start. And it is well worth

the investment. By having insight into your specific threat landscape

you’ll know what tools and services would be most applicable for

your situation.

What to include in your toolbox?

No matter the size of the toolbox, there are always the essentials

which can be found in every one. The tools and services which are

just right for the job in hand. Of course, there are others which are

used for more specialized tasks but in general these are the ones

which you can’t function without.

Let’s look at four examples and see what is the recommended tools

and services which best suits your needs.

EXAMPLE ONETO R R E N T S I T E S

Torrent sites are a popular way to download pirated content. There

are many of these sites, but the Pirate Bay is probably the most well-

known. In March 2017, there were 253.8 million visits to the pirate

site. To help customers understand what content is available illegal,

the Irdeto cyber services team constantly monitor such sites. Over

a 12-month period from April 2016, the Irdeto team has witnessed a

171.44% traffic growth for the Top 10 torrent sites.

Key elements in your toolbox here should be latest intelligence

gathering and investigation capabilities to identify the sites as well

as the intermediaries and entities involved in operating those sites.

Integrating watermarking with an online piracy detection service

allows content owners, broadcasters and operators to identify the

source of the leaked content. Once illegal content has been detected,

having the ability to implement enforcement activities is critical.

Enforcement options range from issuing takedown notices, disrupting

the pirate network via the intermediaries concerned: hosting sites,

payment providers and advertisers to civil or criminal action against

the identified pirate parties.

Figure 1: Examples of pirate torrent sites

EXAMPLE TWOL I V E ST R E A M I N G

One of the main drivers is illegal sports streaming. Here, speed is the

name of the game when it comes to fighting online pirates. After

all the value of the sports content is at its highest while it is being

broadcast.

Essential toolbox elements are forensic watermarking to embed a

unique, persistent and invisible mark into your valuable content which

makes it easier to identify, validate and confirm which end user has

distributed your content. Intelligence based detection combined

with a scalable automated platform is important for the rapid

identification of the pirated content. Implementing swift enforcement

actions is critical when it comes to the removal of the sites. The aim

is to redirect illegal viewers to the legitimate broadcaster’s platform

to continue watching the game.

Figure 2: Examples of pirate streaming sites

EXAMPLE THREEI P T V S U P P L I E R

S I T E S

Pirate business models are becoming more sophisticated. Advertising

revenue based stream distribution on the internet has evolved to

selling dedicated pirate OTT devices such as STBs, OTT plugins and

apps with the subscriptions. Pirates are now generating money from

the sale of the pirate devices as well as ongoing subscription revenue.

The challenge is keeping track of the rapidly changing piracy market.

New applications and add-ons are released and updated on a frequent

basis. Data from SimilarWeb shows that the growth in global traffic

resulted in more than 16,460,000 visits per month to the top 100

pirate IPTV supplier websites.

The toolbox elements needed here are latest intelligence gathering

and investigation capabilities. To identify the sites and stay on

top of the evolving piracy landscape market expertise is essential.

Trained investigators are critical to do the research, purchase devices

for technical analysis and covertly interact with the sellers to obtain

the full picture of complicity to understand the nature and scale of

the threat. Once established enforcement options are executed in-

line with the customer’s business policies; this could include civil or

criminal action against the identified pirate parties.

Figure 3: Examples of IPTV streaming sites

EXAMPLE FOURE - CO M M E R C E

S I T E S

According to an extensive search, Irdeto data showed that on one just

one day in March 2017 there are more than 3.97 million advertisements

on e-commerce websites, including Amazon, eBay and Alibaba for

illicit streaming devices.

Tackling the problem of infringing listings is critical when it comes

to stemming the flow of devices to consumers. And it’s encouraging

to see Amazon leading the way with their new preventative policy.

Amazon’s new policy makes it explicit that promoting, facilitating

and enabling infringing or unauthorized access to copyright content

is prohibited from sale on Amazon.

Like the Torrent sites, the essential toolbox elements needed are

the latest intelligence gathering and investigation capabilities

to identify the infringing listings as well as the intermediaries and

entities involved. Enforcement options range from removing the

infringing advertisements to disrupting the pirate network via the

intermediaries concerned - hosting sites, payment providers and

e-commerce websites - to civil or criminal action against the identified

pirate parties.

Figure 4: Examples of pirate advertisting on e-commerce sites

Your toolbox essentials at a glance:

Your toolbox partner

When it comes to selecting a partner to work with you on this, our

advice would be to ensure they have a combination of state of the

art technology and proactive services. For example, worldwide

enforcement and investigative services aimed at identifying and

prosecuting the parties involved in large commercial streaming

piracy networks. Make sure they have a proven security expertise

across the global, not just in one region. After all online piracy is a

highly sophisticated operation that often spans different countries

and jurisdictions.

Of course, you can do this yourself, if you have the capabilities and the

skilled resources. You don’t need to rely on a third party or partner.

Or it might suit you better to use a partner to complement your

existing team to bring in specialist expertise.

Torrent sites Live Streaming IPTV Supplier sites

E-commerce sites

Intelligence based detection

Investigation services

Enforcement activities

Watermarking technology

Online piracy is a growing problem affecting all global pay-TV

operators, content rights holders and consumers. Having the right

tools and services in your toolbox for today and as the pirate landscape

changes is paramount. It is only by keeping up with the changing

dynamics and being able to tackle them effectively that we will be

able to successfully fight online pirates.

About Irdeto:

Irdeto 360 Security is an end-to-end, pre-integrated solution that meets even the most stringent security

requirements, enabling operators and content owners to offer premium media services, such as 4K UHD VOD,

live sports and early release window movies. It provides unparalleled breadth and depth to meet changing

security needs, from content protection, to piracy control and cybercrime prevention, to key management by

a trusted authority. Its proven success comes from the combined power of innovative technology, a diverse

team of experts and a global network to deliver best security practices.

For more information about how the Irdeto Piracy Control and Cybercrime Prevention solutions can help you

in the fight against online piracy, visit the website: www.irdeto.com.

SUMMARY