According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, digital video piracy reduces annual revenue in the U.S. by at least $29.2 billion. With so much on the line, those in the know are taking the necessary actions to disrupt pirate services. Not only will this directly impact the bottom line and protect value content, but it can also create the path to viable and legal options for consumers — showing them the value of a legitimate value chain for their entertainment content. The question is, where should industry decision makers start?
IBCAP is filling this need with real insights and information from people and influencers with the data and expertise to make a difference. This is why we created this blog — as a forum for education, awareness and discussion.
Going forward, we will provide updates on the anti-piracy industry, announce significant takedowns and shutdowns of pirate services, highlight litigation and court orders, conduct interviews with IBCAP coalition members, and more.
Whether you are new to IBCAP or a long-time member, this blog will serve as a snapshot of our latest developments in curtailing piracy and IBCAP’s views on important topics that could affect you and your business. At the same time, it is important to understand who we are and what we do.
Who is IBCAP?
The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy is a non-profit coalition formed in 2014 focused on curbing piracy of our members’ content. We represent more than 170 channels, including familiar names like Sony; BBC; beIN Sports; Scripps; IndiaCast; TV5; Willow Cricket; and many others.
While we customize our focus for each member, we specialize in disrupting and removing pirate services that stream domestic, international, and sports content popular with multicultural communities in the U.S.
What do we do?
With an in-house legal team and an anti-piracy lab that operates globally, IBCAP is uniquely capable of handling a wide variety of matters, including but not limited to the following actions:
- Monitoring and enforcing content rights on the following common sources of piracy:
- Web linear and video-on-demand (VOD)
- Set-top boxes (STBs)
- Mobile applications
- Social media
- Kodi, Roku, etc.
- Sales channels targets
- Brick-and-mortar retailers
- Leading investigations, whether through legal or technical means, in-person with retailers, or with private investigators to identify companies and individuals engaging in piracy
- Developing relationships with CDNs, hosting providers, and social media platforms to elicit rapid response times in removing illegal streams
- Collecting and provisioning evidence to utilize in criminal actions and civil lawsuits
- Engaging with law enforcement and government agencies globally
- Supporting and coordinating litigation efforts of members who own copyrights to content
- Educating consumers and retailers on the adverse effects of piracy
IBCAP has a high success rate in removing pirate services and unauthorized streams from the U.S. market and often worldwide. We also work with our members to secure financial awards and injunctive relief through lawsuits, which have proven to be highly effective in shutting down sellers of pirate services and eliminating many pirate services from the U.S. market and globally.
How do we do it?
Simply put, through teamwork, communication, and highly automated monitoring and takedown tools. Our two teams include our state-of-the-art anti-piracy lab and our in-house legal department.
Our lab is the largest of its kind in the world, with hundreds of STBs being monitored and disrupted constantly from various locations globally. Moreover, our highly skilled engineers are continually working to develop and improve automated tools unique to IBCAP for monitoring efforts and takedowns.
Our dedicated analysts also work tirelessly to stay up to date with the most recent acts of piracy committed against IBCAP’s members and send this information to our legal team. The legal team then utilizes the information sent by our analysts to discuss strategy, prepares DMCA takedowns, and supports litigation efforts.
Is IBCAP successful in its anti-piracy efforts?
Yes! We are proud to report a few highlights below, but we encourage you to access our website’s “News” tab to check out specific cases in more detail. Highlights include:
- Our high success rate from abuse notifications and DMCA takedowns
- Non-compliant targets are ranked in order of priority and referred to members for potential lawsuits.
- Nearly all major STB pirates affecting IBCAP’s members’ rights have been removed from the U.S. market through IBCAP’s efforts.
- Most brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. no longer sell pirate services containing IBCAP’s members’ content.
How can I contact IBCAP?
What topics would you like to learn more about through this blog? If you have any feedback, please get in touch with us at info@ibcap.org!
Are you interested in joining our coalition as a member? Learn more here.