Berliner Boersenzeitung - Entertainment industry struggles with 215 bn piracy site visits

EUR -
AED 4.050687
AFN 75.848066
ALL 98.795379
AMD 427.150285
ANG 1.9891
AOA 1021.230541
ARS 1071.6997
AUD 1.611444
AWG 1.985112
AZN 1.878559
BAM 1.954684
BBD 2.228448
BDT 131.884693
BGN 1.955744
BHD 0.415697
BIF 3201.858822
BMD 1.10284
BND 1.431422
BOB 7.626541
BRL 6.041138
BSD 1.10368
BTN 92.653134
BWP 14.598929
BYN 3.61187
BYR 21615.669352
BZD 2.22465
CAD 1.49506
CDF 3165.151727
CHF 0.939402
CLF 0.036482
CLP 1006.662575
CNY 7.774694
CNH 7.788633
COP 4617.437826
CRC 572.178472
CUC 1.10284
CUP 29.225267
CVE 110.200576
CZK 25.323416
DJF 196.539557
DKK 7.459529
DOP 66.362708
DZD 146.885429
EGP 53.328835
ERN 16.542604
ETB 133.37835
FJD 2.427627
FKP 0.839878
GBP 0.840116
GEL 3.010741
GGP 0.839878
GHS 17.48178
GIP 0.839878
GMD 76.095968
GNF 9528.6455
GTQ 8.537009
GYD 230.895017
HKD 8.565517
HNL 27.536526
HRK 7.498223
HTG 145.629486
HUF 401.665292
IDR 17056.196811
ILS 4.197917
IMP 0.839878
INR 92.594356
IQD 1445.774456
IRR 46415.789598
ISK 149.269301
JEP 0.839878
JMD 174.222098
JOD 0.781585
JPY 161.53523
KES 142.36577
KGS 93.145677
KHR 4479.482812
KMF 492.42639
KPW 992.555621
KRW 1471.199361
KWD 0.337403
KYD 0.919775
KZT 532.725811
LAK 24370.084569
LBP 98833.361863
LKR 324.364786
LRD 220.730959
LSL 19.298081
LTL 3.256401
LVL 0.667097
LYD 5.248051
MAD 10.781197
MDL 19.314147
MGA 5008.231101
MKD 61.579838
MMK 3581.982188
MNT 3747.451198
MOP 8.829458
MRU 43.600499
MUR 51.017477
MVR 16.939506
MWK 1913.74195
MXN 21.350932
MYR 4.668873
MZN 70.443885
NAD 19.298081
NGN 1828.057265
NIO 40.617912
NOK 11.691568
NPR 148.248694
NZD 1.775153
OMR 0.424602
PAB 1.10367
PEN 4.111153
PGK 4.393571
PHP 62.129593
PKR 306.435981
PLN 4.307146
PYG 8605.164438
QAR 4.022748
RON 4.975687
RSD 116.992573
RUB 104.218861
RWF 1495.373254
SAR 4.141014
SBD 9.198553
SCR 14.958307
SDG 663.361377
SEK 11.362669
SGD 1.430328
SHP 0.839878
SLE 25.196926
SLL 23126.003436
SOS 630.745561
SRD 33.973543
STD 22826.567027
SVC 9.657486
SYP 2770.919201
SZL 19.289336
THB 36.536002
TJS 11.742735
TMT 3.859941
TND 3.380524
TOP 2.582965
TRY 37.768956
TTD 7.485726
TWD 35.319888
TZS 3007.034034
UAH 45.454969
UGX 4042.636651
USD 1.10284
UYU 46.232972
UZS 14079.960277
VEF 3995096.826341
VES 40.73781
VND 27289.782557
VUV 130.931413
WST 3.085155
XAF 655.594542
XAG 0.034245
XAU 0.000414
XCD 2.980481
XDR 0.81455
XOF 655.5886
XPF 119.331742
YER 276.096276
ZAR 19.242693
ZMK 9926.89061
ZMW 29.109642
ZWL 355.114118
  • SCS

    -0.2500

    12.62

    -1.98%

  • NGG

    -1.8100

    66.97

    -2.7%

  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    24.74

    -0.16%

  • BCC

    -1.2400

    138.29

    -0.9%

  • RBGPF

    58.9300

    58.93

    +100%

  • CMSD

    -0.0400

    24.89

    -0.16%

  • RIO

    -0.9900

    69.83

    -1.42%

  • GSK

    -1.0800

    38.37

    -2.81%

  • BCE

    -0.6000

    33.84

    -1.77%

  • RELX

    -0.6800

    46.61

    -1.46%

  • JRI

    -0.0800

    13.3

    -0.6%

  • AZN

    -1.6500

    77.93

    -2.12%

  • RYCEF

    0.0800

    6.98

    +1.15%

  • VOD

    -0.0500

    9.69

    -0.52%

  • BP

    0.0900

    32.46

    +0.28%

  • BTI

    -0.8600

    35.11

    -2.45%

Entertainment industry struggles with 215 bn piracy site visits
Entertainment industry struggles with 215 bn piracy site visits / Photo: VALERIE MACON - AFP

Entertainment industry struggles with 215 bn piracy site visits

Anti-piracy authorities say they have cracked down on illegal streaming of film and TV, but data suggests it is booming, reaching 215 billion illegal site visits last year.

Text size:

That figure from Britain-based MUSO, which claims the most comprehensive data on piracy websites, shows an 18-percent increase between 2021 and 2022, covering 480,000 films and TV shows.

"It's as easy as it ever was to get illegal content," said CEO Andy Chatterley.

The entertainment industry is not giving up.

It recognises that previous efforts were counter-productive. Targeting individuals with massive fines for downloading a few movies made them look like corporate bullies, while court orders to block websites were often a whack-a-mole waste of time.

These days, they focus on the big fish -- "people buying supercars with the millions they are making out of piracy sites", in the words of Stan McCoy of Motion Picture Association, which represents Hollywood studios.

It is a key member of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), formed in 2017 to coordinate anti-piracy efforts globally. It does the legwork to track down big operators and alert police.

In 2023 alone, ACE has helped shut down operators in Spain, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, Egypt and Tunisia, each with millions of monthly users.

The organisation claims clear results, measured in prison sentences for operators and reduced options for users. ACE says the number of illegal subscription services has dropped from 1,443 to 143 in the United States on its watch.

- Finding excuses -

But free entertainment is still easy to find.

An inexperienced AFP reporter took just a few minutes to Google a list of illegal streaming sites and access the latest episodes of hit shows "Succession" and "White Lotus" without any sign-up or payment.

Many are undeterred by crackdowns.

The r/piracy discussion board on Reddit has 1.2 million members and every conceivable justification for their hobby, from the cost of legal streaming sites to lack of access in certain countries to vague anti-capitalist diatribes.

Some are disarmingly frank: "I don't have any excuses. I could afford to pay for it all if I wanted, but instead of giving my money to some media company's CEO who makes a thousand times what I do, I'd rather just save the money for my own retirement," wrote Reddit user ScarecrowJohnny.

One factor dominates at the moment: the explosion of streaming options, with content now spread across increasingly pricey subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO and many more.

"I was paying for one or two, but now there's 50 of the damn things and everything in the world costs more practically every day, so I went back to piracy," wrote Reddit user Jaydra.

The watchdogs are unimpressed.

"People always find an excuse for piracy. It used to be there wasn't enough choice -- now it's too much," said McCoy.

- 'A lot of progress' -

Ironically, as the streaming environment fragments, MUSO's piracy data has become one of the most accurate ways for media companies to measure which films and shows are genuinely popular.

"Piracy is effectively the largest VOD (video-on-demand) platform in the world," said Chatterley.

"There is no platform bias, no cost bias, no access bias. You see what people actually want to watch."

"We have clients who see what's popular on piracy websites and then go buy it for their platform."

Since eliminating piracy is unrealistic, perhaps the most important goal for the industry is ensuring it does not become normalised.

"We've made a hell of a lot of progress to make it less easy," said McCoy. "If people are dedicated to breaking the law, they will do. But it should be a marginalised activity, not mainstream."

(F.Schuster--BBZ)