Security News > 2022 > February > Piracy is alive and well, demand reaching 3.7 billion unlicensed streams and downloads

Akamai released a research detailing the persistence of online piracy.

The evolving piracy landscape, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation Policy Center, costs the U.S. economy alone $29.2 billion in lost revenue each year.

Between January and September 2021, global piracy demand - measured by visits to websites offering access to movies and television shows, either directly through a browser or mobile application, as well as torrent downloads - reached 3.7 billion unlicensed streams and downloads.

"Piracy is an ongoing battle, and there's no silver bullet to address each type of piracy online. As content developers get better at guarding against piracy, criminals are adapting their methods to access protected content," said Steve Ragan, security researcher at Akamai and author of the report.

"When examining piracy globally and across the film, TV, software, publishing, and music industries, the vast scale of piracy is clear. Perhaps more concerningly, in many areas, piracy is still a growing problem, with an overall 16% increase on the previous nine-month period," said James Mason, CTO of MUSO. Breaking down online piracy trends.

A total of 132 billion visits to piracy websites occurred between January 2021 and September 2021.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/02/04/online-piracy-persistence/