In Broadcast - June 2014 - 28

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 32 - JUNE 2014

N E W S

InFORM

Education Is Just The First Step
In Combatting Widespread Piracy
Internet piracy of media content is at an all-time high - Irdeto's Rob van Nunen outlines some positive
strategies that can be adopted by content owners and distributors to help deal with the issue...

ith the combination of
extensive broadband
growth, improved compression
technologies and the proliferation
of multimedia devices in recent
years, it's not surprising that
consumption of video on the
Internet is at an all-time high.
Consumers are demanding more,
both in terms of content availability
and breadth of accessibility. This
has also signalled an increase in
internet-based piracy - an Ofcom
report into the state of piracy in
the United Kingdom found that the
number of Internet users accessing
pirated content has risen and
almost a quarter of downloads in
the UK infringe copyright.
As reported by the BBC recently,
this increase in internet piracy
has led to lengthy talks between
entertainment industry bodies
and UK Internet service providers,
which have ﬁnally resulted in an
imminent deal to take action.
According to agreed measures,
BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media
will send "educational" letters
to customers believed to be
downloading illegally beginning in
2015. It is reported, however, that
although a maximum of four 'alerts'
can be sent to one individual, no
follow-on measures are planned.
We believe these conversations
and actions are a step in the
right direction, as education is
extremely important when it comes
to mitigating piracy. However, in
order to effectively address it, the
industry needs to adapt a more
holistic approach. A clear strategy is
necessary, starting with education
and alignment of all industry bodies'
interests in a coherent approach
as well as the use of effective
technologies to identify and
track piracy. A coordinated effort

in law enforcement based on a
sound legislative background is
also important.
The measures being discussed
in the UK fall short of the holistic
approach that is required. As
these conversations progress, the
following four principles should be
taken into consideration to address
piracy more effectively.

Four Key Steps:

Education - There is a wide
range of motivations and drivers
for piracy that we often speak of
the broad spectrum of piracy, or
the "piracy continuum." In many
cases, consumers are resorting
to pirated content through sheer
frustration due to the lack of
legitimate sources - or simply
because they do not realise that
the site they are accessing is
illegal. This is especially ambiguous
when such sites are supported by
advertisements from legitimate,
well-known household brands.
Even when made aware of the
illegality of their actions, the lack
of legal consequences does not
encourage consumers to change
their behaviour.
This demonstrates a need for
better education around how
consumers access content online
not only for consumers themselves,
but also for law enforcement
and judiciary bodies. To ensure
this education is well-conveyed,
letters should also be supported
by promotional activities and a
national media campaign to help
create awareness and improve
long-term effectiveness.
Technology - Criminals innovate
constantly and use various tools
to re-distribute premium content.
Content owners and distributers
throughout the ecosystem need to

remain one step ahead of pirates
and implement the necessary
technologies for content protection.
Platform security is paramount, as
is a proper maintenance regime.
Deployment of the latest technology
and countermeasures keeps
the pirate offering unattractive -
consumers are not interested
in services that do not work or
are constantly being shut down.
In addition to shutting pirates
down, content providers must use
technology to offer multi-screen
services in order to re-engage
disrupted pirate viewers and turn
them into paying customers.
A legitimate online service to
deliver the content consumers
want to their viewing device of
choice is often the most effective
way to combat piracy, especially
when addressing frustrated or
confused consumers.
Legislation - Piracy will ﬂourish
if there is no deterrent and no
consequences. Education and
technological protection must be
supported by action and this is
where the imminent deal in the UK
falls short. Creating the necessary
legislation to prosecute persistent
pirates is essential to enforce
boundaries and build a good
understanding of consequences.
Cooperation - To coin the
phrase 'strength in numbers', the
media industry must support the
ISPs' work. From the content
owners, distributors, broadcasters,
ISPs, commerce sites to solution
providers, relationships should
be built and developed to carry
this forward. Pirates operate on a
global basis, often building illegal
devices in one region, operating
their services in another region
with lax legislation, marketing to
and serving consumers all around

the world. Therefore, building a
global network of intelligence
and enforcement experts is
critical to defeating pirates across
the value chain.

Holistic Approach

Dealing with piracy continues
to be a game of cat and mouse,
but the industry clearly feels the
urgency to act and understands the
need for multi-party cooperation.
The proposal for the Internet
service providers and entertainment
industry to address piracy is a ﬁrst
step in the right direction.
It is important to establish a good
foundation of understanding before
any action is taken, but the potential
for legal consequences is key.
To be effective, a holistic approach
is necessary - identification
of the scale of the problem,
education backed by legislation
and enforcement.

Rob van Nunen is Senior
Director, Anti-Piracy and Fraud
and is responsible for Irdeto's
global anti-piracy strategy and
the deployment thereof.
Rob has been with Irdeto since
1998, establishing a decoder
veriﬁcation testing facility in the
Netherlands and expanding
this to Beijing and Seoul. He
then took over silicon chip
procurement, embedding and
personalisation of smartcards and
key management. Centralised
purchasing was also put under
the responsibility of Rob.
In 2007 Rob took over the
Quality Assurance department
and after building a Business
Process management system
and portal, recertified Irdeto
according to the ISO 9001:2006
standard. He also implemented
an ISMS and subsequently had
Irdeto certiﬁed for the ISO 27001
certiﬁcation. Rob holds a MBA
from the Rotterdam School of
Management (2009).

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