A UK study found that illegal streaming exposes users to scams, identity theft, malware and potentially organised crime; 37% of active users surveyed had encountered harmful or unsafe content. Researchers estimate fraud and theft cost UK viewers about £270 million annually.
Illegal streaming costs UK broadcasters an estimated £1.35 billion annually, including losses from sports, film and television. The study estimates these losses equate to 10,400 jobs and £366 million in forgone tax revenue, potentially limiting investment in production and sport.
A WPI Economics study found that 31% of UK adults accessed illegal streams in the previous three months, rising to 51% among 18–24-year-olds. Films and TV are more commonly pirated than live sports, and social media is the most common access route.
CANAL+ and LALIGA have signed a strategic anti-piracy agreement covering almost 50 countries across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, expanding their long-standing commercial relationship into a coordinated effort to combat illegal sports streaming. The agreement will see the broadcaster and the Spanish football league share intelligence, coordinate enforcement strategies and combine technology and operational expertise to tackle […]
The Omdia study Next-Generation Anti-Piracy for TV and Video: Why the streaming era demands a shift from reaction to prevention therefore warns that piracy can no longer be viewed solely as a technical or legal issue.
Despite the increase in legal streaming services, piracy remains prevalent, with over 21% of online adults using unauthorized sources, particularly among engaged viewers like sports fans. The study highlights that convenience and ease of access are significant factors driving this trend.
Irdeto and blockchain data specialist Chainalysis are strengthening their partnership to tackle digital piracy and cryptocurrency-enabled cybercrime. The companies are combining blockchain intelligence, payment disruption and international law enforcement coordination to target pirate IPTV, streaming and gaming operations. Irdeto says its Cyber Services team can use Chainalysis Reactor to trace cryptocurrency transactions, identify exchange cash-out […]
Friend MTS and AgileTV have completed the first integration of AgileTV’s content delivery network (CDN) with Friend MTS’ server-side watermarking technology, allowing operators to deploy premium content protection more quickly. The pre-integrated solution combines Friend MTS’ watermarking platform with the AgileTV CDN, enabling operators using either technology to add the other with reduced integration effort. […]
There were 6.2 billion illegal streams of 90 seconds or more globally for the Spain vs Argentina Final match according to GCI. While the FIFA World Cup 2026 broke viewing records in the U.S. on linear TV and on streaming platforms, new data from Gaming Compliance International (GCI) suggests that an enormous amount of illegal […]
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), nearly 3,000 websites were blocked or seized for illegally streaming World Cup matches. In the US alone, more than 1,000 domains were blocked during the tournament, with a similar number also blocked in Colombia. Law enforcement agencies in the US and across South America carried out this operation as […]
In this clip from her keynote fireside chat at Streaming Media Connect 2026, Verimatrix Director of Product Management Maria Malinkowitsch offers a snapshot of live-streaming piracy in 2026, what it’s costing major sports rightsholders, why the fragmentation of sports rights and the cost burden on fans is making the industry susceptible to pirates, and how the […]
The digital advertising industry has launched a coordinated campaign to cut advertising revenue to more than 1,300 websites illegally streaming or distributing content from the FIFA World Cup. Industry body TAG said it had identified 1,376 piracy sites and shared the list with advertisers, agencies and ad tech companies through its Pirate Domain Exclusion List, allowing […]
