iWorld
Preventing content piracy in the cloud era
Sacred Games Season 2, an original Indian series by Netflix, ended up being one of the many victims of rampant content piracy in India. The series was available on illicit websites and other digital mediums on the internet even before the original content was made available.
The online TV and movie revenue lost to piracy in India is expected to reach USD 3.08 billion by 2022. This is a development we’ve seen not just India; revenue losses and lost monetisation opportunities by virtue of content theft and piracy continue to plague the global media & entertainment industry today. The cost of global online streaming piracy will hit $52 billion by the year 2022, according to a report by Digital TV Research. Nearly 190-billion visits were made to illegal piracy websites in 2018, of which 17.4 Billion were from the US, followed by the Russian Federation (14.5 Billion), Brazil (10.3 Billion); with India (9.6 Billion) and the United Kingdom (5.75 Billion) as the other top nations affected by online piracy. In terms of the type of content pirated, almost 50 percent of the visits to pirated websites were for television shows, and 20 percent of visitors were looking for the latest movies.
The widespread availability of online video content, instigated by factors like ubiquitous high-speed data connectivity, hyper-connected devices and living room experiences – are all playing their part in the explosion of video content consumption online, making it lucrative for pirates to steal a portion of the pie. As more and more viewers are moving to mediums and platforms that are digitally native, circumvention of subscriptions and geo-based restrictions to access premium content with no loss in experience or quality, motivates end-users to embrace pirated means of consuming content.
There are multiple ways in which digital content piracy exists today. There might be genuine users who are paying for the content but start sharing their credentials with other users. Pirate sites might sign up with content providers in a single-user model but then start re-distributing content. There are sophisticated piracy tools like re-encoders or stream ripping tools being used to grab content and redistribute it. Another popular content piracy technique is circumventing geo-restriction by using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and proxy servers to mask unauthorized IP addresses to make it look like an authorized IP which might lead to media companies breaching contractual obligations with their rights' holders due to content viewership from unauthorised regions.
According to a survey of almost 200 media technology influencers and decision-makers conducted by Akamai in 2018, attacks on media organisations are widespread and of different types. Service downtime, caused by DNS based attacks or DDoS attacks were listed as an important area of concern, the second most important was protecting premium video content.
For media & entertainment organisations, monetising premium video content and protecting it against unauthorised usage and distribution is key to a successful video strategy. Based on the survey, organisations face a few challenges in implementing technologies to prevent content piracy.
The Akamai content protection portfolio is designed in a way to help media organisations defend themselves against critical threat vectors so that organisations can focus on their core, which is creating and managing content; while offloading content distribution and the threats related to safeguarding it. The portfolio aims at helping organisations prevent content piracy, unauthorised access and maximise monetisation opportunities. The portfolio provides a few key capabilities including user authentication, access revocation, geo-restrictions, encryption, watermarking and securing last mile delivery using Standard TLS.
Security in the media & entertainment industry means securing the entire content delivery path from the content provider to the viewer – adopting a holistic approach to security. Any media company that wants to serve or distribute its content to these end-users or viewers needs to protect itself from attacks that can originate at multiple points across the content delivery path. Content consumption has changed over the last few years, and in that, it has shaped the next wave of technology, and how we interact with it. If viewers believe that Content is King, companies should invest well to protect it.
(The author is product marketing manager, media and entertainment, APJ, Akamai. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)
iWorld
Mastercard expands concert series with comedy and music format
Vir Das, Zakir Khan and Papon headline multi-city shows across India.
MUMBAI: From punchlines to power chords, the stage is getting a genre upgrade. Mastercard has unveiled the next phase of its multi-city concert series in India, blending stand-up comedy with live music in a format that mirrors the country’s evolving entertainment tastes. The new line-up brings together a diverse mix of performers, including comedians Vir Das and Zakir Khan, alongside singer Papon. The shift marks a departure from earlier editions that were primarily music-led, featuring global and Indian acts such as Enrique Iglesias, A. R. Rahman and Sunidhi Chauhan.
Curated in collaboration with Tribe Vibe and EVA Live, the expanded series is designed to create a broader cultural platform that brings humour, storytelling and music into a single live experience.
Vir Das will kick off the comedy segment in New Delhi with four shows across two days at Yashobhoomi on 9 and 10 May. Meanwhile, Zakir Khan is set for an extended run in Mumbai, with nine shows scheduled at Dome SVP Stadium across 12, 13, 14, 19 and 20 June, with additional dates expected.
On the music front, Papon will headline a six-city tour, beginning in Chandigarh on 16 May, followed by Ahmedabad on 29 May and Lucknow on 30 May. The tour will then move to Bengaluru on 6 June, Hyderabad on 7 June, and conclude in Indore on 14 June.
The series continues to offer exclusive benefits for Mastercard cardholders, including priority ticket access and premium lounge experiences at venues positioning the platform as both an entertainment and lifestyle proposition.
Beyond the spotlight, the initiative carries a social dimension. Through its partnership with Learning Links Foundation, Mastercard has enabled nearly 90 students from underserved communities across cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh to experience live events often for the first time aiming to spark interest in careers within the experience economy.
As live entertainment becomes increasingly hybrid and experiential, Mastercard’s latest move signals a simple insight: today’s audience doesn’t just want a show, they want a story, a laugh and a memory, all rolled into one.
