A streaming device purchased from trusted providers like Amazon or eBay may still be a risky-to-use pirate device.
Pirates not only engage in copyright infringement by stealing content, but also use free platforms like Facebook, eBay, and Amazon to sell these devices.Now, the platforms sometimes make efforts to try to stop that, but it becomes a bit of a game of “Whac-a-Mole.”
And we’re looking for the platforms to be much more diligent in their policing of their platforms to make sure that criminals are not using them to ultimately sell a device that can lead to a consumer having malware put on their system.
Pirates and Organized Crime
IPTV services that offer pirated content are often operated by criminal organizations that engage in other serious illegal activities. Selling stolen television, film, and sports content, all of which constitutes copyright infringement, is only one part of their broader criminal operations.
We have seen operators that are operating as a criminal organization, not just running an IPTV service, but also selling stolen cars, next to transporting drugs. We have seen arms dealers in connection to IPTV services. We even have seen, in the past, cases where there was a connection to terrorism as well.
These criminals exploit platforms provided by legitimate services like IPTV providers to generate revenue from their illegal activities
Good Money Gone Bad
With content piracy, criminals are making big money at the expense of creators, consumers and advertisers. For example, television shows that require millions in production, considered intellectual property of the copyright holders, are illegally obtained through BitTorrent and then put out to make money for hackers who place the pirated material in legal media platforms.
The profitability of ad supported content theft—when crime does pay online.
Digital thieves profit by stealing copyrighted material and promoting it as their own, often using advertising to make their illegal activities seem legitimate. They use advertising from well-known brands to try to make their activities seem legitimate. And to increase their profit margins.
Online content theft is a big problem. All you have to do is follow the profit to see why. Criminals profiting from copyright infringement are making hundreds of millions of dollars each year, hurting advertisers, creators, and consumers alike.
We don’t like to think that crime pays, but unfortunately this research shows that it can.
The Digital Citizens Alliance research reveals ad supported content theft sites are making at least a quarter of a billion dollars a year. And this doesn’t even account for subscription revenues where they make many millions more with well-known, legitimate organizations seeing their brands placed on rogue sites and criminals coming away with millions.
In our sample size of about 600 websites, they’re making about a quarter of a billion dollars a year. And all you have to do is look at the margins they’re making. They’re making margins from between 80 and 94 percent. And the only way you make a margin of 94 percent is when you’re stealing someone else’s things because you can’t make that margin if you have to create your own.
Some of these sites can make as much as four million dollars in a year. Even small operators can make hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a very large problem.
Digital content theft is not a victimless crime.
It’s damaging brands because we’re seeing ads associated with illegal activities and that’s not something any brand wants.
Advertisers, when they go online, want to be associated with credible brands. And unfortunately, they’re now, their ads are showing up on rogue websites that are promoting illegal activities, stolen content. And when they get associated with stolen content, that damages their brand.
We now live in a world where there are millions of citizen creators. There’s people who sell designs on Etsy. There’s people who put pictures and other things, their expressions, on Facebook. We have YouTube millionaires who make money by creating videos and essentially having advertising around them on YouTube. We have people who put pictures of their children on-line. We have great expressions and frankly, business have been created through citizen creators. And we risk all of that when we allow content thieves to steal their work.
While the battle against content theft is intensifying, combating piracy globally presents even greater challenges. In countries like China, where intellectual property laws are less rigorously enforced, content creators—including major video game developers and entertainment giants like Apple—face an uphill struggle. Despite efforts by retailers, service providers, and law enforcement to clamp down on illicit distribution channels, piracy thrives in these regions, making it difficult to protect content producers. In fact, reports suggest that pirated versions of video games, films, and even software are regularly sold alongside legitimate products in online marketplaces. This global issue not only undermines American businesses but also threatens the sustainability of creative industries worldwide.
Content theft harms consumers in two important ways:
One: it makes them complicit in large-scale criminal activity, potentially exposing them to fines, jail and criminal records of their own.
Two: it exposes them to viruses, malware, identity theft, ransomware and more.
Internet consumers want to have confidence that the sites they’re going on are real and safe. They’re going on sites because they think that’s an easy way to get a movie or a TV show or a song. And when they go on these sites, they’re not only helping those bad guys make money through advertising, but in some instances, they’re coming away with viruses and malware and other things that mess up their computer. So, the old adage that “nothing is free” is really true when it comes to content theft.
Just like they think twice about going to a sketchy neighborhood, you have to think twice about going to a sketchy website or a rogue website. You may go there because you’re trying to get a song or a movie or a TV show. And you may get it, but you may also get something you didn’t expect.
It takes all of us working together to stop thieves from profiting at the expense of consumers, advertisers and creators.
The Digital Citizens Alliance is a consumer group focused on keeping the internet as safe as possible. We think it’s a neighborhood and just like any neighborhood, we want to keep it as safe as we possibly can.
Join us to help take back our online neighborhood.
