GeoGuards David Briggs looks the prevalence of Kodi throughout 2017, and how we can protect our content in the future
Author:
James GrovesPublish date:
Oct 5, 2017Social count:
0
GeoGuards David Briggs looks the prevalence of Kodi throughout 2017, and how we can protect our content in the future
0
SHARES
The Kodi problem is well documented in the media right now, from the prosecution of piracy offenders in small towns in England through to the ban of add-ons such as the controversial Navi-X.
Kodi, the cross-platform media player, has received so many column inches because it's making it easy for everyday people the world over to steal geo-restricted content undetected. And it's doing it at scale! In fact, Kodi is so ubiquitous today (penetration in around 15 per cent of UK households in January 2017, Industry Trust for IP Awareness) that it has the potential to seriously damage the monetisation models of the entire global TV and media industry if the issue isn't addressed.
To see the potential effect Kodi and its peers could have in the near future, the content industry can take lessons from what Napster did to the music industry. By introducing a way to easily share and download pirated music files, Napster devalued music content as people turned to pirated MP3s rather than buying content through record companies and stores. Napster's impact is still felt today: total revenue from US music sales and licensing plunged from $14.6 billion in 1999 the year Napster made its debut to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. Unlike video programming, music files were small and easily shared when bandwidth was low, but now that we have greater bandwidth, TV shows and films are today as vulnerable as music was in 2000.
Why is Kodi so prevalent today?
The internet has fundamentally changed the way consumers think about accessing premium TV content. With the rise of OTT content distribution and the popularity of SVoD services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, consumers have come to expect to access their favourite video content on their own terms: what they want, how they want it and at a low price.
In recent years, an increasing number of consumers have started to use virtual private networks (VPNs) or domain name system proxies (DNS proxies) to fake their IP address (and therefore location) to access content that isn't available in their geographic region. This is illustrated through the example of Netflix and Canada, where millions of consumers were found to be accessing the US content catalogue via a VPN. Kodi is making it easy for consumers to avoid the controls of geo-fenced content easy through using a VPN.
While the Kodi software itself is not illegal, third-party add-ons can give owners of Kodi-powered devices access to pirated copies of content. This is most easily done through fully loaded boxes which have these add-ons pre-installed. With these add-ons Kodi users can to switch on VPNs and DNS proxies to fake their IP addresses and make it hard for their access of illicit content to be detected by their ISPs.
Failing to upgrade anti-circumvention measures to protect content from illicit access points such as fully-loaded Kodi boxes, enables consumers to continue pirating video content from around the world. This comes with major implications for local content providers reducing them to passive bystanders that have limited control over what content is seen in their jurisdictions, and when. This makes monetisation models such as windowing content according to region ineffective.
Protecting content in the future
The industry has started to proactively address the issue of content piracy. A group of 30 entertainment companies including CBS, MGM, Sky, Disney, Sony, NBC, BBC, Netflix and Amazon recently launched the anti-piracy coalition Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. Now the entertainment business needs to invest in the tools that detect fraudulent activity as well as protecting against new types of threats once one VPN is detected and blocked, these fraudsters quickly find an alternative.
Content owners and OTT providers can use geo-filtering technology to pinpoint the use of common circumvention methods such as VPNs and DNS proxies to block illicit access to content. This is achieved through IP checks that once done can grant a viewer access to geo-defined content when their IP addresses are verified as legitimate. These methods can be used in combination with other checks that pinpoint illicit access through mobile devices over 3G and 4G networks as well.
With Kodi boxes still so prevalent, it's now time for the entertainment industry to treat the geo-piracy threat seriously, and put the steps in motion to protect existing business models - before it's too late.
By David Briggs, chairman and co-founder, GeoGuard
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
GeoGuards David Briggs looks the prevalence of Kodi throughout 2017, and how we can protect our content in the future
