DIGITAL PIRACY IS BECOMING AN ORGANISED BUSINESS, WARNS EXPERT
The grey area in various forms has accompanied the distribution of digital content from the very beginning. One of the leading technology managers spoke to Broadband TV News about this long-standing problem, which is now "exploding".
The interview, which was published a few days ago onBroadband TV News, warns of a dramatic increase in piracy, which has turned into a form of organised business, to which operators must respond by changing their strategy. Maria MalinkowitschofVerimatrix, one of the world's leading cyber security companies, points out that traditional control methods are failing, as "81% of requests to remove illegally uploaded content are now ignored".
According to the manager, companies are still mistakenly focusing on addressing the consequences rather than the causes. She therefore emphasises the need for a fundamental shift, whereby "the industry must move from mere reaction to detention and prevention", which she considers to be the only viable long-term solution. Malinkowitsch identifies the abuse of distribution networks and unprotected applications that enable mass real-time streaming theft as a key threat.
How digital pirates steal
Traditional forms, such as torrents, are giving way to more sophisticated forms of piracy. The main form today is what we might call"piracy as a service"– complex illegal streaming platforms that function like professional platforms such asNetflix, with their own interface, recommendation system and thousands of channels, including premium sports. The second key form is"CDN network theft"– hackers steal login details from legal applications and use them to download original content directly from the servers where it is legally stored.
A long-standing problem is the distribution of television content via web browsers, smart TVs, smartphones or tablets, which are more easily accessible than the classic set-top boxes with encryption via decoder cards used in the past. Older viewers may remember the arrival of the Romanian satellite serviceDigi TVand its super-cheap offers. Piracy even reached such a level that keys could be obtained automatically using specially modified software.
A "business" like any other
On the dark web, which is referred to as the dark layer of the internet, you can buy a ready-made package for operating such a service. It is a completely illegal platform that already includes a recommendation system, a user management system, an administration interface, payments via payment cards and cryptocurrencies, and thousands of channels, including premium sports. The whole issue was described very well by theSynamedia portal less than three years ago.
How to deal with such services?Artificial intelligence helps significantly. Monitoring is performed using AI-controlled systems that scan the web, illegal IPTV platforms, and social networks (especiallyTelegramchannels, where "operators" find resellers). Watermarking plays a key role in detection – invisible marks are inserted into videos, which remain intact even after recoding or other manipulations. When the content appears on a pirate platform, this watermark can be identified and its exact source traced to find out who is responsible for the theft.
An example of a successful fight from the Czech Republic
TheStream Cinema Communityadd-on was long one of the most serious piracy tools on the Czech market, through whichKodiusers accessed content from all key players such as Netflix,Disney, HBO MaxandPrime Video. The technical complexity of combating this add-on lay in its legal architecture: the service itself did not host any content, but only functioned as a search engine and player for links to files stored in cloud storage.
Although the add-on (and its alternative, Stream Cinema) had been known about for a long time and was considered problematic, it wasthe Association of Commercial Television (AKTV), which represents the Nova, Prima and Óčko groups on the domestic market, that finally managed to do something about it after years. It completely disappeared from this online platform, the SCC "service" ended completely, and its alternative lost the content protected by AKTV.
Interview available here.
Source: mediaguru.cz
