DStv owner Canal+ is intensifying its fight against illegal streaming in South Africa, using technology to identify pirated content, block illicit services and trace piracy to its source.
The company says its anti-piracy technology arm, Irdeto, is combining tools such as Internet Protocol (IP) blocking, forensic watermarking, investigations and payment disruption to tackle the piracy ecosystem.
Canal+ says illegal IPTV services and pirate streaming platforms operate like legitimate entertainment businesses. Some offer subscriptions, customer support and premium films, series and live sports, bundling thousands of channels and programmes into an unauthorised service.
The problem is compounded by how quickly pirated content can be copied and redistributed. Operators can also move between websites, domains and servers when authorities take action.
Canal+ says simply taking down individual websites is no longer enough. Anti-piracy strategies need to combine technology, intelligence, enforcement and disruption.
One tool being used is ISP blocking, which prevents users from accessing pirate websites, domains and IP addresses. This is particularly important during live sporting events, when illegal streams can attract large audiences within minutes.
By the time a conventional takedown request is processed, a live event may already be over, while the pirate operator may have generated traffic and revenue.
Another technology is forensic watermarking. DStv content can carry invisible identifiers that allow Irdeto to investigate where a pirated stream originated.
Irdeto’s TraceMark technology is designed to maintain this traceability even when content has been re-encoded, resized, captured or otherwise altered. This can help rights holders move beyond identifying stolen content to determining how it was obtained and tracing it back to the source. The technology is supported by enforcement.
In March 2026, DStv confirmed that it had deactivated 819 end-user pirate streaming accounts after investigations into illegal streaming.
Two raids in Cape Town were part of the enforcement effort. On 5 March, authorities accessed a pirate streaming provider’s management panel and identified hundreds of active accounts. Authorities arrested a suspect, who appeared in court.
Investigators also confiscated mobile phones and obtained system credentials for forensic analysis. Additional arrests followed over the sale and distribution of illegal streaming services.
Those arrested were charged under South Africa’s Cybercrimes Act for unauthorised access to and interception of data.
For Canal+, the combination of digital tracking and enforcement is becoming important as piracy operators become more organised and their services resemble legitimate streaming platforms.
