Piracy is the illicit copying of protected content, which violates the owner’s copyright. It is known by many other names, including content piracy, internet piracy, online piracy, and digital piracy, to mention a few. Piracy not only involves creating unauthorized copies of copyrighted music, games, software, electronic books, and movies, but also illegally streaming that content.
The OTT Video-on-Demand (VoD) market has developed at an exponential rate in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic generating even greater demand for streaming media. For example, Netflix attracted a stunning 16 million customers in the first quarter of 2020 alone, more than double the predicted 7 million. During the lockdown, not only did customers flock to OTT services, but so did filmmakers and producers, as various films were released and showcased on platforms like as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Zee5, among others. As a result, fresh content releases on OTT have become the new normal. It was a win / win for the OTT platforms, production companies, and viewers. While watching the first day, first show of a new movie at home may not have delivered the same excitement as seeing it on a cinema screen with hundreds of other moviegoers, it was the only alternative available until the COVID-19 situation improved and cinema halls were allowed to reopen.
Unfortunately, the strategy of direct-to-OTT release of films has resulted in an upsurge in digital content piracy, which is a big concern for direct-to-consumer distribution today. According to a recent research, the worldwide online television and movie business would jointly lose roughly USD 52 billion in 2022 due to piracy. The losses experienced by producers and distribution platforms as a result of piracy are therefore critical.
Online video and television piracy is growing, with unlawful web streaming violating content licensing agreements accounting for 81% of TV and film piracy. The ramifications of content piracy are enormous for Communications Service Providers (CSPs). Unauthorized streaming has a substantial impact on CSP service revenues and overall profitability. It is noteworthy that Advertising Video-on-Demand (AVoD) services such as MX Player are also impacted. Despite the fact that the platform’s content is free, the corporation risks losing advertising income, which is determined based on viewing. The content of MX is unlawfully viewed on a regular basis by at least 15-20 million people, resulting in revenue loss by the way of advertisements.
Let us now look at some of the ways that by which OTT content gets pirated.
CREDENTIAL SHARING
Many people share their OTT login & passwords with family & friends in order to save money. Some even share it with others in order to switch the various subscription services. Such practices lead to OTT platforms suffer significant loss in revenue.
THEFT OF PASSWORDS & TOKENS
Hackers break into accounts in order to obtain the login credentials of legitimate users. These credentials are then sold or made available to others via downloads or screen sharing. Tokens are frequently used by OTT companies that provide streaming services to identify their users. It makes it simple for pirates to clone this token and use it to watch videos on other devices.
SCREEN RECORDINGS
The most common way pirates use to create pirated material is screen recordings, which are subsequently sold or published on illicit websites, which either provide free downloads or a reduced subscription fee than other OTT platforms.
DOWNLOADING OF STREAMING CONTENT
There are several online applications that allow users to transcode and download videos from OTT streaming services. One may simply enter the URL and the video will be downloaded using that tool.
The pirated content is now distributed using one of the many technical anomalies that are available:
- Making use of torrent sites, cyber locker, and fie hosting avenues.
- Making use of applications, Telegram, for example that allow sharing large pirated video files unhindered across mobiles and other devices.
- Websites and social media platforms that distribute pirated content.
Apart from losses in revenue, there are other adverse effects of content piracy on OTT services world over.
- SECURITY OF CONTENT & USER INFORMATION – Piracy not only targets an OTT platform’s content and infringes upon their copyright, but also compromises user data and payment information in case of a security lapse in the website or application.
- LOSS OF SUBSCRIBERS – Piracy costs OTT service companies a substantial number of subscribers and revenue. When pirated content is available for free, people may prefer it over paying a membership to access the same content.
- DIMINISHED TRUST & OWNERSHP – If digital material and user data are compromised, people may be hesitant to subscribe to an OTT platform for fear of security breaches. This also harms the platform’s reputation in the market, resulting in the loss of even loyal subscribers. Furthermore, there is a risk of losing ownership of copyright when work is replicated and published on the internet. Regardless matter how many legal procedures are taken, there is a good risk that the pirated content will resurface, for free.
CONTROLLNG CONTENT PIRACY
There are several online applications that allow users to transcode and download videos from OTT streaming services. One may simply enter the URL and the video will be downloaded using that tool.
DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a method of protecting digital media copyrights. This strategy entails the deployment of technologies that restrict the copying and use of copyrighted content as well as proprietary software. DRM enables content providers to set licensing obligations and prohibits unauthorized copying.
DIGITAL WATERMARKING
Digital watermarking entails embedding information in a video signal to identify its origin. This allows us to trace the origins of pirated content and implement security measures. It enables broadcasters to add unique identifiers to their material, which remain intact even after transcoding or scaling the video.
DISMANTLE CREDENTIAL SHARING
Users frequently exchange passwords, resulting in simultaneous logins to watch premium content and revenue loss. To prevent credential sharing, streaming websites can install numerous plugins created by their developers. A unique ID can be assigned whenever a user signs in with a certain credential, such that no other ID can be issued for the given account while this ID is active. To prevent credential sharing, content providers can also employ single sign-on through Facebook or Google.
ENCRYPTION & DOMAIN/IP/URL BLOCKING
Encryption keys frequently prevent illicit data access. HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), and DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP), are the most used encryption software for video content. OTT platforms collaborate with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to detect and ban illicit pirated websites. This is accomplished by IP (Internet Protocol) blocking, domain blocking, and URL blocking to prevent movies from being disseminated or embedded on other websites.
CONTROLLING VIDEO PLAYBACK
OTT channels can limit users’ watch time based on their behavior to minimize account sharing.
PROVIDE OFFLINE VIEWING OPTIONS
Offering download choices, can keep people hooked on your service rather than looking for alternatives.
CONCLUSION
Piracy of content is a huge worry for OTT platforms and production houses. Each year, it results in massive income losses for the content business. Securing VoD material, as a result, involves having an innate understanding of how piracy occurs and determining the appropriate remedies to minimize potential threats. While third-party piracy via credential sharing, cam recording, and unlawful online distribution is on the rise, measures like as DRM, watermarking, & IP limitations, and choosing a trustworthy VoD platform provider like ATC Online, among others, can help keep piracy in check.
ATC Online presents PACIFYCA, a proven OTT solution that includes Amazon Web Services (AWS). Our Online Streaming Solutions are geared for enhanced video transmission, abundant storage, and best-in-class security with cutting-edge content protection management. For more information, please visit us at: https://atconline.biz/products/ott-platform-for-video-streaming-services/
