The Billion$ Freeloaders: Strategies to Prevent Password Sharing

Image credit: Brand Synario

“OTT & streaming media companies are losing billions of $s from password sharing” [1]

As Yahoo Finance notes: “Freeloading off other people deprives Netflix of at least $2.3 billion in revenue each year... and that number is bound to go up after the largest price hike in the company’s 12-year history” [2]. Moreover, last year, Hulu lost around $1.5 billion [1], and the non-stop momentum of the 'Freeloading Factor' also impacts other streaming media companies.

"Parks Associates predicts that $9.9 billion of Pay-TV revenues & $1.2 billion of OTT media services revenues will be lost in 2021 due to credentials sharing" [3]

Taking Action

Platforms need to have a robust strategy in place in order to address this very serious issue. OONA Global TV, the highly successful up-and-coming Virtual MVPD (multi-channel video programming distributor), and a major player in the disruption of the television industry, is currently set up to provide its cutting-edge AVOD and SVOD services to 185 million Indonesians, and is on course to provide the same to the US this autumn, with other parts of Asia, Africa, South America, the Middle East and Europe, following suit at a later date. OONA's strategy towards preventing password sharing and driving revenue retention, means following the latest innovative methods concerning IP decisioning data and analytics, while simultaneously balancing out both the customer experience and content licensing mandates by using state-of-the-art AI software and appropriate IP (internet protocol) decisioning data and tools. 

Cracking Down

When it comes to trying to pinpoint who the freeloaders actually are, detecting suspicious activity is the name of the game. - Yet OONA understands extremely well that streaming platforms have to tread cautiously when it comes to: “effective enforcement within constraints that are often set by external entities” [1].

If for example, a streaming company takes instant action, and blocks suspicious users before it receives verification of the consumers' identity and location, the fall out could be most unwelcome. For instance: “An authorized user trying to sign in from an atypical location or network might react with concern—and make a costly call to customer service [which could take a long time, and interrupt what they were doing]. Or worse, these frustrated users could take their business elsewhere” [1].

                                    Image credit: Channel Pro

Login Intelligence Data

Gaining an oversight into strategic login begins with collecting information on consumers' IP geolocation. “This data connects a user’s IP address with associated geographic location information: where they are logging in, how they are connecting to the internet... whether the IP address is originating from a hosting facility or a residential location, etc.” [1]. This in turn enables streaming companies such as OONA TV, to establish its company's regulations on criteria for suspicious behaviour, and permitting access [1]. Clearly, attaining the strongest possible IP geolocation data is crucial. - It empowers streaming providers so they can locate users with precision, and pinpoints any logins done from other locations, which could potentially mean password compromise [1].

                                      Image credit: RT

Dealing With Anonymous Users

As a percentage of users consume content via a proxy server or VPN, the difficulty is more complex. This is because these viewing methods hide the users' original/assigned IP address, and as such, enables them to log in and not be unidentified. And although this form of access is a 100% legal, the rub is that whenever someone masks their location in this way, for the purpose of circumventing geographic boundaries, they could well be in violation of the streaming platform's content viewing restrictions or terms of service, in which case, viewing this way will not be allowed. So in a nutshell, masking makes the detection of password sharing an almighty task. - If the streaming platform is not able to pinpoint the users' exact login location, it makes it hard for them to recognise fraudulent logins carried out at alternative regions [1].

Monitoring “Typical” User Behaviour

The use of Proxy servers and IP addresses are all part and parcel of users' profiles, and as such, contribute to subscribers' typical activity and digital history. And although users' histories are always in a state of flux, [when streaming platforms follow OONA's strategy] of determining a baseline or geo-footprint for users' “normal” behaviour, then it enables their security department to flag anomalies which could potentially imply password sharing [1]. For example, when a subscriber who is resident in NYC unexpectedly signs in from London.

                                     Image credit: The Independent

Velocity Checking

Another means [OONA TV uses] for picking up atypical activity, is applying a velocity check. This process, which is often utilised by fraud prevention platforms, flags changes in a user’s login location, if they take place within an unrealistic timespan [1]. - For instance, if an OONA subscriber based in NYC logs in from there at 7 in the morning, and then logs in again at 10 that same morning, from London, unless Richard Branson or Overture have come up with a next generation supersonic version of Concord, which can fly far faster than twice the the speed of light, it is likely that this subscriber would get red flagged for further investigation.

Exercising Caution

Top global information services provider, Neustar's excellent white paper on cracking down in password sharing, makes the very important point that it is far less costly, and less difficult to keep a subscriber than take on a new one. To that end: "OTT content providers need to be cautious about “blanket blocks” of all suspicious password-sharing activity. Legitimate subscribers don’t want to see “access denied” when logging in for a long-anticipated game, show, or movie. And they certainly don’t want to feel like their OTT or streaming media content provider is scolding them or accusing them of prohibited activity" [1]. 

                                    Christophe Hochart, on screen & second left

Christophe Hochart

 Digital leader, AI expert, and government and telcoms advisor, Christophe Hochart, the CEO and Founder of OONA Global TV, who is well known for his anti-piracy drive, stated that: "In order to tackle this dilemma which is costing the industry billions of dollars, it is essential to have a cutting-edge AI system in place so that subscribers' account activity can be analysed through ML (machine learning). Specific software is able to detect any out of the ordinary activity on a user's OONA account, for example, when it is being used in multiple locations at the same time."  

References

[1]. Streaming Media (2019). “Cracking Down on Password Sharing? IP Intelligence and Human Insight Can Help.” https://www.streamingmedia.com/PDF/e9db4ac1-02c5-4754-b59e-38673ccab596.pdf?i=ff943b72-e9a9-4057-b77d-a4795a29dd70   Accessed 26 July, 2019.

[2]. Swaminathan, Aarthi (2019). “Password sharing costs Netflix billions — and that's before the price increase.” Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/password-sharing-costs-netflix-billions-thats-price-increase-160028395.html   Accessed 26 July, 2019.

[3]. Kalam, Kayenat (2019). “Netflix Password Sharing: Crackdown Begins!” Brand Synario.

https://www.brandsynario.com/netflix-password-sharing-crackdown-begins/   Accessed 26 July, 2019.