In South Africa, MultiChoice’s Irdeto, in partnership with local agencies, conducted a successful raid in Worcester, leading to the arrest of an individual suspected of reselling Waka TV products.
Frikkie Jonker, Irdeto’s director of broadcasting cybersecurity and anti-piracy, emphasised the effectiveness of their collaboration with law enforcement agencies across the continent. “Our ongoing efforts against piracy yield positive outcomes,” he stated. “We are committed to doing everything possible to combat piracy and protect the intellectual rights of content creators in Africa.”
MultiChoice is increasing its efforts against streaming piracy, viewing it as a significant threat to its operations. The company highlighted that its collaborations with law enforcement are expected to create meaningful advancements in piracy reduction, safeguarding content creators, viewers, and the broadcasting industry.
In the past year, MultiChoice has undertaken nine raids and made 15 arrests related to illegal streaming service operators in South Africa. The company recently indicated its intention to escalate actions against unlawful streaming services this year, aiming to hold accountable those involved in these illicit activities.
While MultiChoice has not disclosed specific figures related to the financial damages inflicted by pirate streaming services, it asserts that these platforms significantly harm the broadcasting and legal streaming sectors. In 2018, MultiChoice estimated that approximately two million active pirate streams resulted in billions of revenue losses for the local broadcasting industry.
In an October 2024 statement, Jonker disclosed that Irdeto can identify individuals behind pirate streaming platforms and cautioned that MultiChoice may take legal action against viewers of these services. “Once criminal proceedings against operators conclude, we intend to pursue the end-users of these illegal services as well,” he cautioned.
Jonker further explained that the MultiChoice Group employs advanced identification tools to locate and deactivate DStv accounts associated with illegal streaming. “By analysing the data, we can determine which account is illegally streaming DStv channels,” he noted, alluding to their proactive approach toward combating piracy.
