
If you've read the other two blogs in this series, you'll be fully up to speed. If not, you can catch up on the human motivations of a pirate and a deep dive into the pirate ecosystem and economy.
The Technology Conundrum
Today's hyper-connected lives means there's not a lot we do that doesn't involve some form of connected device talking to a server somewhere. Heating, travel, leisure, even taking a photo on our phones, our interaction with technology is ubiquitous. The challenge though, is that for every positive use of technology, there is an equivalent where it is used to cause harm at either an individual or industry level. Readers of the first two blogs will be familiar with the concept of piracy eras marked - and ended - by technology advancements. The IPTV era, described to us as a hornet's nest, has made opening illegal streaming services as easy as opening a laptop. Like a game of chess, the industry needs to block each pirate move to deliver an ultimate checkmate. In terms of the how', the pirate we interviewed had these words of advice for the M&E industry: Educate, Collaborate and Protect.
Educate: Driving Change in Consumer Behavior
Our pirate told us that his school age children are increasingly being educated about IP theft. Now with supporting legislation, the law has teeth through which to prosecute; laws that didn't exist when a lot of today's pirates were taking their formative steps into the IT industry. While such education will help to enrich knowledge of school age children, further industry initiatives need to be taken to drive changes in consumer behavior. Attempts have been made before such as in the early 2000's the UK's Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and the Motion Picture Association of America in co-operation with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore created a video that played at the cinema and on DVDs under the title of You Wouldn't Steal a Car, Piracy is a Crime'. While it showed downloading films to be a crime, it didn't focus on the wider industry implications - which include the direct financial impact on the creative industries as reduced budgets, caused by lower box office or distribution revenues, means less content will be created.
Collaborate: An Industry That's Stronger Together
Given the scale of piracy activity in the industry today, no single organization is going to bring piracy to a halt. Yet collectively, through industry coalitions such as Alianza, AVIA/CAP, IBCAP and Sygnat, all of which NAGRA is a proud member of, shared intelligence and insight is proven to drive effective action. And there are many examples of where this has happened. Operation 404 has been a large operation in Brazil, now in its fifth year of operation. It continually tackles piracy through Alianza, a coalition of content owners, industry bodies, law enforcement organizations and vendors. The firepower of such a body and the prosecutions it can leverage are significant. In our interview with the pirate, the continuous fear of getting caught came to a head when he received a single phone call threatening legal action and with it the risk of enormous debt. He stopped immediately. Other tactics such as knock and talk', as evidenced recently in the UK, can also be used in conjunction with law enforcement to deliver a strong message well before costly prosecutions are launched.
Protect: Keeping One Step Ahead
Pirates steal through technology so the best way to defeat them is with better technology. Technologies such as forensic watermarking and wider content protection solutions all have a key role to play in blocking piracy attempts. With solutions like forensic watermarking, there is no debate if the content is pirated - it's clear who the content was licensed to and consequently where the leak originated. Not watermarking content is not only compromising potential revenue but also gives pirates free rein. Equally, if you're a content owner, and your content has been pirated, without watermarking, you can't know where in the distribution process or which licensee has caused the leak. This means recourse or even stopping the leak becomes impossible.
Look Before You Leap
Perhaps one of the sagest lessons from our interview with the pirate was also the simplest. The level of change in our industry demands rapid innovations through which to satisfy and delight subscribers. Used to attract and retain subscribers, new features are deployed to ensure competitive positions are retained and value is preserved. However, each time an update is issued to a service, it is immediately leapt on by the pirate community. Knowing the pace of change can compress development timelines, they interrogate the software to identify new opportunities that can be exploited. These loopholes, which may be found in one or many of the range of devices needing to be supported by today's video service operators can potentially provide the next hornet's nest of activity for pirates as content is gathered for inclusion in the pirate service.
But pirates also exploit loopholes across the entire content distribution chain. Pirates focus on how subscribers consume content which can mean exploiting vulnerabilities that are created through compressed development timelines of new features and the delivery of increasingly complex use cases. Ensuring that every door and every window is closed to prevent illicit access is key if the industry is to outplay our pirate foes.
It is because of these vulnerabilities that solutions are required to protect against streaming piracy. To address this threat, video service operators worldwide are using solutions such as NAGRA Active Streaming Protection to ensure every door and every window remains securely cl
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
17/09/2025
Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 2 - Manufacturers Offer Extensive Online Learni...
17/09/2025
Tech Focus: Audio Training, Part 1 - A1 Shortage Remains a Major-League Challeng...
17/09/2025
It was the ultimate convergence of pop culture and literary prestige: Last night, Dua Lipa brought her Service95 Book Club podcast to the stage for a special li...
17/09/2025
During August, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico showed an increase of 0.4% compared to the previous month, accounting for 25% of TV viewing.
Discl...
17/09/2025
CYPRESS, Calif. FOR-A America has named Jo Aun as senior manager of product engineering, a new role responsible for guiding the planning, development and rollou...
17/09/2025
PlayBox Neo, in partnership with CIS Group, a leading provider of media and broadcast technology solutions, has successfully deployed PlayBox Neo's Dual Cha...
17/09/2025
In a relationship that mirrors societal advances in sustainability, Brightline Lighting and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Headquarters have en...
17/09/2025
Clear-Com is proud to support the world-class productions of Alley Theatre, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit resident theatres in the United States. With...
17/09/2025
Arch Platform Technologies (www.archpt.io), a pioneer in automated, scalable cloud infrastructure for high-performance workflows, today announced a Strategic Co...
17/09/2025
Over 300 selected decision-makers from start-ups, corporates, and VC funds worldwide will gather for the third edition of the event, united by a single goal: to...
17/09/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, is excited to announce that its flagship Vantage platform and its next-generation AI capabilities re...
17/09/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions that profitably connect the right content to the right audience, proudly announces its three Best of Show...
17/09/2025
In a move to further establish a firm foothold across South East Asia, PlayBox Neo, the well-respected name in broadcast playout and channel branding, has appoi...
17/09/2025
Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless audio solutions, announced two major wireless solutions at IBC 2025 (Stand 8.D30). This includes the Portable RF-o...
17/09/2025
Six Berklee Alumni Win Emmy Awards The recipients were recognized for their contributions to acclaimed programs Severance, The Studio, The Penguin, SNL50: The...
17/09/2025
Applications Open for Berklee in Santo Domingo The weeklong contemporary music program will run January 5-10, 2026.
By
Colette Greenstein
September 17, 2025
...
17/09/2025
Ukrainian Students Find Creative Consonance' at Berklee Valencia Through ELIA's UAx Platform, six students from Kyiv joined Berklee Valencia for a week...
17/09/2025
Earlier this year Avid announced Kenna Hilburn as its new senior vice president of product. Recently Hilburn was promoted to Avids new Chief Product Officer, su...
17/09/2025
Transatlantic collaboration combines experience and agility to drive innovation in network design and delivery
Luxembourg, September 16, 2025 - SES, a leading ...
17/09/2025
NEW YORK Madhive has announced that the Fox Television Stations have joined its Live Sports Marketplace....
17/09/2025
SYRACUSE, N.Y. Sony Electronics has announced that it is partnering with the Newhouse School at Syracuse University to provide state-of-the-art equipment, hands...
17/09/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has announced that the first smart projector using its Roku TV operating system, the Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector D1R Cube, is now avail...
17/09/2025
Wednesday 17 September 2025
UK artists capture icons of stage and screen, inclu...
17/09/2025
Jo Returns to FOR-A as Senior Manager of Product Management and Engineering...
17/09/2025
For the Moon Safari anniversary tour, AIR opened the doors to their backstage. Just a few hours before the Paris concert, DPA met with two key figures of the te...
17/09/2025
Auditions will be held in Dublin, Cork and Galway
The County Parade returns f...
16/09/2025
SVG All-Stars: Leigh Michaud, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe UConn grad rose from ESPN's mailroom to become one of its most valuable ops leadersBy Bran...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Friday's Latest From Halls 1-4, Outdoor Exhibits in Amst...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Saturday's Latest From Halls 5-7 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Friday, September 12, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and ...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Sunday's Latest From Halls 8-10 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and...
16/09/2025
Live From IBC 2025: Monday's Latest From Halls 11-14 in Amsterdam By SVG Staff
Sunday, September 14, 2025 - 17:00
Print This Story
The SVG Europe and ...
16/09/2025
Amazon Prime Video Picks Up Four Hours of Early-Round Masters Coverage in 2026 By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 10:15...
16/09/2025
VERSANT Inks Deal for League One Volleyball as Women's Sports Rights Slate G...
16/09/2025
ESPN VP, Corporate Communications, Katina Arnold Named SVP, Disney Advertising C...
16/09/2025
IBC 2025 in Review: SVG Europe's Full Collection of Video Interviews From th...
16/09/2025
Hace una d cada, la m sica latina representaba apenas el 8% de las reproducciones globales en Spotify. Hoy, constituye m s de una cuarta parte (27%) de toda la ...
16/09/2025
A decade ago, Latin music made up just 8% of global Spotify streams. Today, it a...
16/09/2025
Spotify is expanding our video lineup with a new partnership with Zoo 55, part of ITV Studios. For the first time, acclaimed content from ITV Studios is landing...
16/09/2025
At DSEI 2025, James Dunne of L3Harris Maritime UK chaired a panel on aligning the supply chain to the warfighter, where leaders discussed modernising support fo...
16/09/2025
Calrec has strengthened its collaboration with audio metering expert RTW by integrating RTW's new TMxCore metering platform across its full range of Argo IP...
16/09/2025
College Football Scores Top Telecast in August with 16M+ Viewers on FOX, Followe...
16/09/2025
Collaboration marks the first SSP integration of Gracenote IDs, enabling show-le...
16/09/2025
AMSTERDAM The organizers of IBC2025 are reporting that 43,858 visitors from more than 170 countries attended the event, which had more than 1,300 exhibitors and...
16/09/2025
Wooden Camera announces the release of its new Accessory Collection for the FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55. The highlights of this collection include vital power soluti...
16/09/2025
Anton/Bauer, a leading manufacturer of mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic equipment, has announced the launch of Anton/Bauer Fleet Management, a...
16/09/2025
Teradek, a leading provider of video transmission and live production solutions, today announced the launch of Prism Jetpack, a groundbreaking 5G video contribu...
16/09/2025
Astera, the leader in wireless LED lighting solutions, announces the ultra-versatile SolaBulb. Building on the success of the Astera bulb family, SolaBulb intro...
16/09/2025
As the world gathered at TED2025 to explore the provocative theme "Humanity Reimagined", Clear-Com , supported by NETGEAR networking infrastructure, delivered f...