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More Than Half of All Sports Fans Regularly Pirate ContentErnesto Van der Sar, 04 Jun 06:18 PM Copyright holders are no fans of piracy. However, pir

More Than Half of All Sports Fans Regularly Pirate Content Ernesto Van der Sar, 04 Jun 06:18 PM Copyright holders are no fans of piracy. However, pirates tend to be the biggest fans of their content, whether that's movies, games or music. Research has consistently shown that illegal downloaders and streamers are more engaged consumers. They also tend to spend more money on subscriptions, merchandise, theater visits and concerts. Thus far most surveys and studies have zoomed in on music and video entertainment. However, there is a massive market for sports piracy as well. With a new report, Synamedia tried to fill this gap with an extensive survey of over 6,000 respondents in ten countries. The Survey Results As expected, the study found that frequent pirates are among the most engaged consumers, with 42% watching sports fixtures on a daily basis. This is twice as much as regular sports fans. What really stands out, however, is that piracy is not a niche activity for sports fans. On the contrary, more than half of all sports fans consume pirated content at least once a month. It turns out that finding a sports fan who has never pirated anything is quite a challenge. Of all the people who were surveyed, only 16% said that they had never pirated sports content. This is also clear from the overview of the key results, listed below. Not all sports pirates are equal, according to Synamedia. The company identifies three different groups, which each differ in their viewing preferences, content demands, and views on piracy. Loyal Stalwarts, Fickle Superfans, and Casual Spectators The first group are the "Loyal Stalwarts," which are mostly older men who consume a broad variety of sports content. Most think illegal services are wrong and they plan to keep their legal subscriptions. Loyal Starwarts The second group covers the "Fickle Superfans." They are younger and often have a strong focus on local and niche games and sports. These Superfans can be divided into 'Content Plunderers' who believe piracy is not wrong, and 'Internet Buccaneers,' who prefer legal content. Fickle Superfans "Casual Spectators" make up the last group. As the name suggests, they don't consume pirated content very often. This covers both 'Ocean Explorers' who are fine with piracy but prefer legal content, as well as 'Silver Islanders,' who clearly believe piracy is wrong. Casual Spectators While all these different groups and subgroups are a bit confusing, it helps to convey the point that not all pirates are equal. Not by a long shot. This makes sports piracy a complicated enforcement area. No One-Size-Fits-All Solution For example, some groups are worried about fines, while others clearly aren't. Similarly, some pirates are eager to pay, while others are more likely to keep pirating. What is important, however, is that legal options are available. If people have no way to watch something legally, they often turn to unauthorized channels. Synamedia hopes that their research will help copyright holders and content providers to understand pirates better, even though there's no "one-size-fits-all" solution. In any case, sports pirates should not be universally written off as cheapskates. "Consumers who most indulge in illicit viewing are also the most engaged sports fans and potentially most willing to pay for legitimate content," Synamedia writes. "The challenge for rights holders and platform operators is to combine enforcement activity to frustrate illegal viewing with products that address the underlying triggers for consumers to stray. Done right there is potential to generate incremental revenue," the company adds. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Hollywood Studios & Netflix Target 'Movies Time' Piracy App Andy Maxwell, 04 Jun 12:31 PM Ever since the rise of Popcorn Time more than six years ago, developers have been coming up with similar-looking clones to try and grab a slice of the market. Given the massive reach of Android, which can be found running on phones, tablets and set-top devices, this operating system is the weapon of choice for most coders. As a result there are hundreds of apps available online today that provide ostensibly free access to pirated movies and TV shows. The Motion Picture Association, which these days includes Netflix, and the global anti-piracy coalition ACE, have been working hard to hold back the tide but like the little boy and the dam, plugging a hole at a time seems a neverending task. A New Android-based Target for the MPA The latest target for the MPA is Movies Time, a relative newcomer to the space having appeared online less than a year ago. The developer identifies variously as Prince Sharma and/or Audionetime and markets his app as follows: "Tired of annoying ads interrupting your entertainment? Not anymore!! We at Movies Time welcomes you to the world of hassle free entertainment. "Movies time is the most awaited app where you can get access to latest movies, web series and LiveTv on your fingertips 'free of cost'," the blurb reads. "Add movies and web series to your watch-list from our largest library including Bollywood, Hollywood, Tollywood, Punjabi and much more on the go on your smartphone." This, of course, is a problem for the MPA and this week it became a problem for Github too. "We are writing to notify you of, and request your assistance in addressing, the extensive copyright infringement of motion pictures and television shows that is occurring by virtue of the operation of the infringing service titled 'Movies Time'," the MPA complaint to Github reads. "Movies Time is a software application – specifically an APK – that is preconfigured to provide unauthorized access to copyrighted motion pictures and television shows; a user need only download the APK, and on launch it will allow the user to search for, select and stream large numbers of copyrighted motion pictures and television shows, without any further configuration by the user, and all without authorization." According to the MPA, Github provides 'supporting services' to Movies Time including hosting its repository, hosting its website, and hosting the app (APK). As a result it asked the Microsoft-owned platform to take preventative action. "Movies Time – your customer – blatantly infringes the MPA Member Studios' copyrights and countless other copyrights. Indeed, copyright infringement is so prevalent on Movies Tim that infringement plainly is its predominant use and purpose," the MPA complaint reads. "By this notification, we are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping your customer's unauthorized activity. Specifically, we request that you cease providing all supporting services to Movies Time, by (1) removing or disabling access to the infringing Website, and (2) removing the APK from your Repository…" DMCA Takedown Complete But 'Movies Time' Pops Up Elsewhere The MPA provided Github with a list of infringing works and asked the platform to consider the repeat infringer provision of the DMCA and breaches of its own acceptable use policy. All this appears to have been enough for Github which has now disabled access to the repository and the Movies Time website. Of course, with these type of applications there is more than one hole to plug. Movies Time has a domain, MoviesTimeApp.xyz, which previously linked to the website hosted on Github. While that was rendered useless yesterday, any visitors to that domain today are now given a 'drive-by' download of the Movies Time APK – whether they wanted one or not. Also, the MoviesTime Telegram channel remains in operation and its growing membership now exceeds 25,600 users, a figure apparently swelled by the Github takedown. Like many 'pirate' APKs, it's interesting to note that MoviesTime may have a piracy problem of its own. A cursory search reveals several sites offering a modded version of the application which claims to have ads and banner placeholders removed and ads during playback disabled. The mod also states that analytics, unneeded permissions and root check code have been removed. Why any app would need the final pair in place is open to debate so perhaps needless to say, installing either variant isn't recommended. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2020 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company