The Impact of Piracy

  • There were 229.4 billion global visits to piracy sites in 2023 with TV piracy representing 45% and film representing 13% of visits. (MUSO 2023 Piracy by Industry Data Review, January 2024)
  • Nearly three quarters (72%) of consumers who paid for pirate services using a credit card were later hit with fraudulent charges vs 18% for people who don’t visit pirate sites.
  • And 44% were victims of identity theft, compared to only 10% of people who don’t frequent piracy apps or sites. (Digital Citizens Alliance, Giving Piracy Operators Credit, June 2023)

Learn more information about the impact of piracy here.

See CTAM’s 2024 Business Priorities

Resources

Audience Intelligence Report, April 2024
Audience Intelligence Report, March 2024
Audience Intelligence Report, February 2024

TransUnion TruLookup Case Study

Business Problem

Fake identities and fraudulent consumer transactions for one communications company were slipping through the cracks resulting in lost revenue and a negative impact on customer loyalty.

Solution

The company had a conflict between the need for fraud mitigation and a hassle-free customer experience. TransUnion TruLookup™ sorted billions of records from more than 10,000 sources using proprietary linking algorithms to provide intelligence delivered via API which was integrated into the company’s systems and allowed customer service reps to view report results they were already familiar with using.

Results

  • Decreased time spent on identity and fraud resolution in the call center
  • Reduced friction to deliver a seamless, secure customer journey
  • Reinforced confidence in the legitimacy of consumer identities
  • Uncovered and tracked hidden fraud patterns
View the Case Study Briefing

Consumer Education & Piracy Mitigation

Consumer education site StreamSafely.com informs consumers about the risks of accessing illegitimate content.

  • 16 million + consumers exposed to StreamSafely messaging during 2023
  • More than half of visitors intend to take a positive action after visiting StreamSafely

Expanded territories include Canada with access to country-specific TV shows and movies from StreamSafely.ca

Result From Website Visitor Intercept Study

StreamSafely.com Initiatives

Where to Watch Movies Online

An online resource directing viewers to  discover the most popular movies streaming on legitimate services

Most Frequented Illegal Streaming Sources

Search a list of some of the most frequented illegal streaming sites on the internet, informing viewers to avoid them and keep their family safe in the process.

Online Piracy 101

From torrenting to phishing to pirate IPTV, this compilation of videos, resources and topics educates consumers on the countless illicit streaming services and content piracy, as well as how to protect themselves from malware and resulted risks.

Consumer Behavior

Source: CTAM Quantitative Research Study, October 2022
  • 26% of U.S. Adults say they have consumed content at illegitimate sites
  • 9% do so regularly, 17% report doing so relatively rarely
  • Education and income don’t play a meaningful role in frequency of illegal streaming
Source: CTAM Quantitative Research Study, October 2022
  • Age plays a role in the frequency of illegal streaming; more young adults do it and they do it more often
  • Households with children and African Americans also have a higher frequency of illegal streaming
Source: CTAM Quantitative Research Study, October 2022
  • 75% intend to only use legitimate services while 25% intend to continue with some mix of legitimate and illegitimate sources
Source: CTAM Quantitative Research Study, October 2022
  • All ages agree piracy’s impact on jobs is the most compelling message, followed by the threat of malware and the possibility of having your financial data stolen

Goals:

Reduce financial impact by identifying consumer behavioral drivers and educate unwitting consumers on the risks of accessing pirated content including:

  • Educating consumers about the risks of accessing content from illegitimate sources
  • Identifying and leveraging influencers outside the ecosystem to serve as anti-piracy advocates
  • Aligning tactics with other organizations engaged in piracy mitigation and copyright infringement litigation, such as the MPAA/ACE, Digital Citizens Alliance, US Chamber of Commerce and others.

Coalition of Organizations