How Does Illegal IPTV Work?

In 2021, over 17 million people in the UK and the EU used illegal Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services, costing legal pay TV providers €3.21 billion. 

By using these illicit services, users are able to access the very best in premium live sports, TV channels, and video on demand content – all under one umbrella. 

While accessing illegal IPTV may seem like a convenient, inexpensive alternative to other means of streaming content, it isn’t all what it seems. 

In this article, we will provide a comprehensive outline of illegal IPTV services covering the following:

• What is IPTV?
• Is IPTV illegal?
• Why is it hard to tackle illegal IPTV services?
• Dangerous IPTV piracy myths

What is IPTV?

Internet Protocol Television or IPTV is used to broadcast television through the internet. 

IPTV works by converting television content into IP packets which are then transmitted over the internet. Users are then able to access this content on a range of devices which have an internet connection. IPTV is typically used when accessing on-demand and streaming services.

Types of IPTV services

There are a range of IPTV services which allow users to watch television programs and movies through the internet. The three most common types of IPTV services include:

• Live television: this allows users to stream television programs over the internet in real time. 
• Video On Demand: this allows users to watch a wide range of TV shows and movies at their own convenience. Popular video on demand services include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
• Catch-Up TV: this allows users to watch previously broadcast TV shows. Often these services only give users the opportunity to catch up on these shows during a limited period of time. Popular catch-up TV services include BBC iPlayer and Sky Go.

Is IPTV illegal?

The legal status of IPTV services is dependent on whether the provider has the appropriate licences for the content which is on offer. If the IPTV provider does not have the copyright owner’s permission to stream the content, the IPTV service is illegal.

Over the last five years, illegal IPTV networks have become a significant problem, no doubt helped by the increased connectivity and device proliferation. 

As content owners, pay TV operators, and broadcasters seek to grow their subscribers and monetise their content, they face the challenge of illegal IPTV networks who steal the premium high-quality content directly from the legitimate services. 

In some cases, these services leverage the platforms’ CDNs to deliver content to their illegal customer base at a fraction of the price.

How does illegal IPTV work?

Illegal IPTV works by providers obtaining channels and content through illegal means. This content is then streamed over the Internet using servers which are controlled by the illegal IPTV provider. 

While Illegal IPTV services may be free or inexpensive to stream content, there are significant risks in accessing content this way. Not only does accessing this content violate copyright law, but the software involved can pose a security risk, and the streaming experience may be unreliable. 

In contrast, using legal IPTV services not only ensures that those involved in the content production are fairly compensated, but it provides a safer and more reliable service.

The UK law on illegal IPTV

The implementation of the Digital Economy Act (2017) resulted in tougher consequences for individuals found guilty of copyright infringement. 

Using, selling and providing illegal IPTV services is classed as an act of copyright infringement, and under this law, can potentially lead to a 10-year prison sentence.

The US law on illegal IPTV

The Protecting Lawful Streaming Act was implemented in response to an increase in illegal streaming. Under this law, using and providing illegal IPTV services is now charged as a felony.

Why is it hard to tackle illegal IPTV services?

Despite the crack down on accessing and providing illegal IPTV services, tackling these illicit services remain a problem, some reasons for this include:

1. Lower profit margins lead to less innovation

Despite an increased number of anti-piracy vendors entering the market in recent years, tackling illegal IPTV remains an issue. 

This is because these new vendors are offering their services at lower prices which is having a detrimental effect on content protection programmes as content owners are pressured into making decisions based on price rather than focusing on creating a solution to eradicate the piracy problem. 

These lower prices have in turn led to established anti-piracy companies now competing on price, which lowers their profit margins, reducing their research and development budgets. This, in turn, impacts their ability to innovate at a high enough level to keep pace with the pirates.

2. It’s a “whack-a-mole” problem

Traditionally, content owners have focused on piracy in the open web and social media because they are the most visible to key stakeholders. 

Such “mainstream” piracy, however, has become a “whack-a-mole” problem; immediately after one issue is addressed, another one pops up. At the same time, the types of viewers trying to access pirated content often have a low propensity to pay for content.

3. The evasion of content management tools

While peer-to-peer, web and social media piracy have matured, the ability to remove illegal content has lagged behind. For example, the removal rate for pirated sports content on the open web is between 50-80%. 

In contrast, any illegal content on social media can, in theory, be identified and removed. However, given the way that pirates manipulate content as well as the scale and volume of content being uploaded to social media platforms, illegal content often evades content management tools, and as a result, when one illegal video comes down, another one quickly pops up.

4. The use of backup networks

These sophisticated, high-quality and reliable illegal IPTV services pose a particularly great challenge. 

Illegal IPTV services are delivered through a mix of wholesaler and reseller models, making them easily accessible and popular among mainstream, non-tech-savvy viewers. 

These services are difficult to remove because they have large backup redundant networks that can quickly switch servers and content sources.

5. The anti-piracy industry underestimates the problem

The anti-piracy industry has underestimated the scale of the problem. 

Some organisations have only focused on the issue of the resellers, while the content owners lack full visibility of the illegal IPTV network landscape. 

To make things more challenging, these services directly compete with content owners and broadcasters for revenue because illegal IPTV users are willing to pay for pirated content. However, with that in mind, it could be argued that users of these illicit services also represent the segment with the greatest potential to be converted to legitimate services.

Tackling IPTV Piracy Myths

There is a myth in the market that not much can be done against illegal IPTV services. Both new and veteran customers always ask the same question:  “What can we, as content owners, do about the problem?”.

They understand that these illegal IPTV services are 100% non-compliant, but they feel that there’s nothing they can do to effectively remove our content. The only way they believe it can be dealt with is through lengthy and expensive litigation strategies.

However, at Synamedia we have created a full suite of anti-piracy solutions that tackle the threats posed by illegal IPTV services.

Vendors and content owners have incorrectly analysed the problem. By looking at the illegal IPTV market top-down, they cannot see the full picture. As a result, they take ineffective and unimpactful actions that don’t address the root cause of the problem. 

Synamedia has been working for many years to provide industry-leading intelligence that truly maps out the entire illegal IPTV landscape and identifies the root of the problem. This level of intelligence enables you to understand the pirate’s next move before it is made in order to stay one step ahead.

Synamedia’s best-in-class level of intelligence has enabled the company to develop effective solutions for both broadcasters and rights owners: solutions that deliver integrated watermarking detection and disruption, automated DMCA takedown notices, effective dynamic IP Blocking, as well as other disruption tactics. Most importantly, they target a small number of services that are making a big impact.

In summary, to tackle illegal IPTV services, an intelligence-first approach is required. Understanding the extent of the problem is the key to developing a strategy to mitigate the threats from illegal IPTV services. It’s important to emphasise that there are methods available that can make a big difference and do not need to involve lengthy and costly litigation action.

Understand your illegal IPTV landscape

Here at Synamedia, we would love to discuss how to strategically map out the illegal IPTV landscape for your organisation and identify a targeted approach for dealing with this growing mainstream problem. We also would be happy to show you our intelligence-first approach capabilities.

To book a live presentation or for more information, contact us today.