Are the TV Pirates Drowning?

Are the world's TV pirates now being forced to walk the plank and face their demise? The answer to this seems to be a resounding, “yes!” This is due to the long awaited anti-pirate alliance drawn up by HBO, Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Telemundo, Netflix, Amazon, Sky TV, and twenty or so other major power players in the industry [1].

This strategy is geared to stop the pirate operators in their tracks so that consumers are no longer able to download programs or films that hold copyrights, or continue streaming pirated content. And although this may sound like bad news for the viewers, it is of no consequence to consumers in countries such as Indonesia, where 185 million consumers can have fun with the OONA OTT mobile TV app. This cutting-edge interactive OONA platform, known as the YouTube of TV, empowers viewers with the best of films, top programs, and live television all in one place, any where, any time, at zero cost. OONA also offers a personalised experience, enables users to be socially connected, and even boasts an exciting rewards system. And most importantly, OONA is legal.

The heavy weight anti-pirate alliance, known as the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE for short), is concentrating on merging its multiple resources to restrict online piracy. It has already announced its strategy to utilise the clout of the Motion Picture's Association of America, and this includes making use of the latter's worldwide global anti-piracy resources, as well as ACE's members' extensive expertise [1].

All across the globe, copyrighted legal systems render mechanisms for both criminal and civil control: “ACE supports targeted criminal and civil enforcement actions aimed at reducing large-scale, for-profit online theft of content. In addition, ACE supports cooperation with law enforcement agencies around the world to advance these measures and address theft of creative works” [1]. Part of this initiative will also involve ACE carrying out its own research [1].

As time goes on, these types of anti-pirate initiatives are likely to grow. Naturally, OONA and its founder, leading digital strategist, Christopher Hochart, who is an active member of CASBAA, fully supports this action, and to that end, the pioneering OONA free TV team is working 24/7 across various countries to deliver strategies which will provide free, fully legal, exciting TV and film content to as many countries as possible, thereby making pirate TV redundant, and illegal downloading a thing of the past.

At the present time, there are close to 500 online services around the world which enable viewers to watch on demand TV and films legally, although unlike the OONA app, these generally involve a cost to the consumer. Yet, as ACE has stated: “as more creative content moves online, piracy poses a continuing threat to creators, consumers, and the economy. Films and television shows can often be found on pirate sites within days – and in many cases hours – of release” [1].

To give an indication of just how serious this problem actually is: in 2016, there were in excess of 21 billion global visits via mobile devices and desktops to streaming piracy sites; and more than 5 billion prime time VOD, TV shows, and wide-release films downloaded from pirate platforms across the world via peer-to-peer protocols [1]. This is because the consumers in these countries have not had alternative entertainment opportunities such as the OONA app free TV advantage, which is a hundred percent legitimate, and OONA boasts hundreds of fabulous channels including sports, series, films and shows, from the world's leading state-of-the-art content providers.

It is also important to note that engaging with piracy actually poses a serious risk to consumers. Of note, a study undertaken for the Digital Citizens Alliance by cyber security experts, RiskIQ, indicates that with regard to content theft sites: “one out of every three... exposed users to malware. Internet users who went on content theft sites were 28 times more likely to get malware from a content theft site than from mainstream websites or licensed content providers” [2].

The Digital Citizens Alliance's Executive Director, Tom Galvin, has stated that: “Internet users that visit content theft websites have up until now seen it as harmless, but the RiskIQ research is a wake-up call that these websites dangle free movies, TV shows and music to lure consumers” [2]. These pirate websites then infect the user's devices, sometimes causing extensive issues and costly repairs and replacements.

For many people around the world, the exciting evolution of hundreds of personalised top quality free TV and film channels all in one place, cannot come quickly enough, and as a global game changer, OONA is well on course to fulfill its company mission statement: “To make life fun for billions of people in as many countries as possible, by providing Free Mobile TV.”

Currently, OONA is on course to provide its unique service to billions of people in other parts of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, the US and the UK.

References

Photo credit: Wonder, Power, Courage. Illustration by Amien Juugo.

1. Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. (2017). “Global entertainment companies join forces to launch the alliance for creativity and entertainment to reduce online piracy.” Retrieved from: http://alliance4creativity.com/news/ace-launch/ Accessed 26 November, 2017.

2. Digital Citizens Allaince (2015). “Victims No More: Malware Risk Prompts Internet User to Steer Clear of Content Theft Sites, According to New Survey.” Retrieved from: http://www.digitalcitizensalliance.org/news/press-releases-2015/victims-no-more-malware-risk-prompts-internet-user-to-steer-clear-of-content-theft-sites-according-to-new-survey/

Accessed 26 November, 2017.