Anti-piracy and ISP blocking As A Way Of Safeguarding Africa’s Creative Economy

Africa’s creative economy is entering an important period of growth. Across the continent, audiences are consuming more African stories, local productions and live sport than ever before. Streaming has expanded access, smartphones have put entertainment in the hands of millions, and African creators are increasingly reaching audiences far beyond their home markets.

But the same digital infrastructure creating these opportunities has also created new opportunities for piracy. Illegal streaming services, illicit IPTV platforms, pirate websites and unauthorised content distribution have evolved into a sophisticated digital ecosystem. Content can be copied, repackaged and redistributed almost instantly, often across multiple platforms and jurisdictions.

The consequences extend well beyond lost subscription revenue. Piracy affects producers, writers, actors, technicians and the many other professionals whose livelihoods depend on a sustainable content industry. This is why tackling piracy is increasingly about protecting the future of Africa’s creative economy.

Piracy is no longer simply illegal downloading

The piracy industry has changed. Consumers can now encounter illegal streaming services that look and operate much like legitimate platforms. Some offer subscriptions, customer support and access to premium films, series and live sport. Pirate IPTV services can package thousands of channels and programmes into a single unauthorised service, while operators can move quickly between websites, domains and servers when enforcement action is taken.

This makes piracy harder to tackle through content removal alone. Removing an illegal stream addresses the immediate infringement, but it does not necessarily stop the infrastructure behind it. The same operators can move their service elsewhere and continue.

That is why modern anti-piracy efforts increasingly combine technology, intelligence, enforcement and disruption.

MultiChoice’s technology business, Irdeto, has developed a multi-layered approach that includes online piracy detection, forensic watermarking, site blocking, payment disruption and investigations. MultiChoice says it has deployed forensic watermarking and payment disruption in Africa, increased protection of live events and undertaken research into pirate activity across six African markets.

So, what is ISP blocking?

To understand why ISP blocking matters, it helps to start with the basics. An Internet Service Provider, or ISP, is the company that connects consumers to the internet. When someone enters a website address or accesses an online service, the ISP helps establish that connection.

ISP blocking refers to measures that restrict access to specific websites, domains or IP addresses associated with illegal activity.

In the context of content piracy, this can mean preventing users from reaching identified pirate websites or streaming services.

The distinction is important: ISP blocking does not remove the pirated content itself. It restricts the route through which users access it.

Think of it as closing an access point rather than simply removing what is being distributed through it.

Irdeto’s site-blocking technology is designed to identify and verify pirate infrastructure before providing information to ISPs for blocking. It supports domain, IP and DNS-level blocking, including dynamic and real-time blocking, while using validation measures intended to minimise the risk of legitimate services being caught in the process. These validation measures are critical because pirate operators increasingly bundle their platforms on shared domains and IP addresses that also host legal services, intentionally attempting to inhibit blocking efforts. To counter this, we are driving Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with hosting providers in parallel, ensuring we can collaboratively and surgically isolate illicit infrastructure without impacting lawful internet use.

Why is ISP blocking important?

Piracy operates at scale and, particularly during live sporting events, speed matters.

An illegal stream can attract a large audience within minutes. By the time a conventional takedown process is completed, the event may already be over and the stream may have generated significant traffic and advertising or subscription revenue for the pirate operator.

ISP blocking provides another mechanism to disrupt that access.

Irdeto’s technology is designed to continuously monitor pirate websites, IPTV services, apps and streaming platforms, identify infringing infrastructure and update blocks as pirate operators change domains or IP addresses. Its site-blocking system also supports live blocking, allowing newly identified pirate infrastructure to be addressed during live events.

This is particularly relevant because pirate operators do not stand still. When one domain is blocked or taken down, another can appear. Effective blocking therefore needs to be dynamic rather than a once-off exercise.

ISP blocking is only one part of the technological response. One of the most important tools is forensic watermarking.

A forensic watermark is an invisible identifier embedded into video content. If that content later appears on an illegal service, the watermark can help identify where the content came from and, in some applications, the individual stream or account involved.

Irdeto’s TraceMark technology is designed to maintain this traceability even when content has been re-encoded, resized, captured or otherwise manipulated – important considerations in real-world piracy environments.

This creates an important link between detection and enforcement: instead of simply knowing that content has been stolen, rights holders can potentially establish how it was obtained and take action at the source.

Irdeto has also used real-time analysis, watermarking and IP blocking together to combat piracy during live events. During the 2023 Rugby World Cup, for example, Irdeto and MultiChoice identified pirate streams, traced accounts through watermarking and blocked rogue IP addresses during matches.

There is another part of the piracy ecosystem that technology can target: money.

Pirate services need to generate revenue. Irdeto’s payment-disruption services identify payment options used by illegal streaming services and work with relevant platforms to remove those payment channels. This attacks the business model that enables pirate services to operate and attract paying customers.

The result is a more comprehensive approach: Detect. Identify. Trace. Block. Disrupt. Enforce.Each intervention addresses a different part of the piracy chain.

It is important to be realistic about what ISP blocking can achieve.

Piracy operators are highly adaptable. They can change domains, move servers and develop new ways of distributing content. Blocking one destination does not automatically eliminate the underlying operation.

There are also legitimate questions about how internet blocking is implemented. Any blocking regime needs to operate within a clear legal and regulatory framework, with appropriate oversight and safeguards to prevent legitimate services or lawful internet use from being unnecessarily affected.

For these reasons, ISP blocking should not be viewed as a standalone solution. It works best as part of a broader anti-piracy ecosystem involving rights holders, technology companies, ISPs, regulators, payment providers and law enforcement.

Protecting the creative economy

The stakes are bigger than any individual broadcaster or streaming platform.

A film, television series or live sporting event represents investment in a much wider ecosystem of people and businesses. When content is illegally distributed, value is diverted away from that ecosystem.

That can ultimately affect the ability to finance the next production, employ the next generation of talent and develop new African stories.

MultiChoice has identified digital piracy as a significant threat to the creative ecosystem that enables local content and employment across Africa. Its strategy combines technical, legal and operational measures to counter the problem.

The opportunity for Africa’s creative industries is enormous. African stories are travelling further, audiences are growing and digital distribution is opening new markets.

But creative economies do not grow on talent alone. They require investment, and investment depends on confidence that intellectual property will be protected and legitimate content can generate value.

That is ultimately why the fight against piracy matters.

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