JULY 2021 Uefa’s anti-piracy efforts started before a ball had been kicked at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament
work to assess the issues related to unauthorised retransmissions of live event broadcast. As a result of this consultation, the European Commission decided to opt for a non-binding approach rather than a legislative instrument that the European Parliament and rightsholders were calling for. This non-legislative initiative is a toolbox to combat online piracy, which the EU member states, national authorities, holders of rights and providers of intermediary services are called upon to employ. “The internet already enables European citizens to enjoy a variety of live events, from sports events to live concerts. However, commercial-scale piracy is jeopardising the viability of our creative and sports industries,” says Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of A Europe Fit for the Digital Age. “This is especially true in the case of live events, which generate most of their value during the real-time transmission. It is therefore essential that online intermediaries cooperate with live and sports event organisers as well as broadcasters to combat piracy of live events.”
against. This represented a 3390% ten-year growth in the proliferation of hosting sites. “Frankly for us, it’s not about just thinking of piracy as a compliance matter, but there are some very good insights you can glean from piracy if you lean into the problem – and not just focus on whacking all the illegal streams we come across.” “Looking at piracy from a compliance lens misses key information,” he adds. “For example, piracy can often give you hints as to where the market is going. Pirate consumers can be early adopters. Some of the jurisdictions we’re now chasing down are non-compliant, because pirates choose places where they know we’re not going to go after them. So it’s becoming increasingly difficult to mitigate this problem. But if we only come at it from a compliance lens then we’re missing incredibly important business intelligence that could otherwise be used to inform some critical decisions.” It’s not just about beating pirates, it’s also about using the business intelligence gained from doing so to ensure you have the right product proposition in the right place at the right pricing – so that you can seek to convert those viewing pirate content into paying viewers. ON YOUR WATERMARKS Blocking access to web servers carrying illegal content is one of the most common forms of supply-side content protection actions. This involves the blocking of access
PIRACY CAN GIVE YOU HINTS AS TO WHERE THE MARKET IS GOING
to pirate websites by internet service providers (ISPs), following any legal requirements that have been set out in a court order. If live blocking legislation is not in place, or is not strong enough in a particularly territory, another piracy prevention tool is watermarking, which provides traceability back to the account to which pirated content was first delivered. Broadcasters or OTT service providers can then quickly disable an account that is being used to illegally rebroadcast live sporting events. Forensic watermarking is invisible to the viewer, but is detectable by specialist technologies. It plays an important role in tackling sports piracy, as accounts used by dedicated pirates can be quickly identified and action taken. Back in May this year, the European Commission issued a recommendation on combating online piracy of sports and live events. Following a 2021 European Parliament resolution on the challenges of sports events organisers in the digital environment, the European Commission launched preparatory
FORENSIC WATERMARKING PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN TACKLING PIRACY
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