ITWeb TV: The man behind MultiChoice’s fight against piracy

Irdeto, the business unit of video entertainment company MultiChoice, is making gains by disrupting the operations of DStv pirate organizations in South Africa and the rest of the African region where it operates.

This continues as the company continues to lose money due to hacker organizations that have pivoted from using VHS video tapes to operating illegal servers on internet service providers.

MultiChoice, in collaboration with South African law enforcement, recently carried out two anti-piracy operations in Mayfair, Ormonde, Booysens and Kempton Park, Florida. These have led to the arrest of numerous individuals involved in the illegal distribution of streaming devices pre-loaded with unauthorized applications to access DStv and other premium content.

This follows several other crackdowns on alleged pirates in South Africa as MultiChoice continues to close in on suspects.

These raids demonstrate progress in MultiChoice’s ongoing campaign to protect its content, secure the entertainment industry and reduce risks to consumers associated with pirated devices.

ITWeb spoke to Frikkie Jonker, director of broadcast cybersecurity and anti-piracy at Irdeto, the man behind efforts to hunt down pirate organizations across Africa.

“We are tracking the pirates. If they bypass the African continent and go to Europe, we will follow them. If they go to America, we will work with the Department of Homeland Security; We work with Interpol, Europol and Afripol,” said Jonker.

“If you are a pirate and violating our rights and we detect you, we will track you down. It doesn’t matter where you go. It may take a while, but we’ll get you at the end of the day.

Frikkie Jonker is director of broadcast cybersecurity and anti-piracy at Irdeto. (Photo by Lesley Moyo)

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Irdeto is the cybersecurity component of MultiChoice Group. “We provide a variety of services, but the relationship started when Koos Bekker founded the company (MultiChoice) about 30 years ago; he wanted to have a company that encrypted content on pay TV so that not everyone could see it, but pay.”

At the time, he said, the cryptocurrency company was based in the Netherlands under a different name before rebranding as Irdeto.

Reflecting on the evolution of piracy, Jonker said: “When I joined the company about 28 years ago, piracy in the broadcasting industry was about people taking a DStv decoder and recording movies from there and putting them on big VHS video tapes and selling (the content) to people. This evolved into burning CDs.” “At some point people started tampering with the chips on the MultiChoice decoders and we couldn’t turn them off.”

This developed when hackers began using the content in cable hacking operations, where they run cables from one house to another, he added.

“Every time this happens, we evolve with it, developing tools and technology and upgrading encryption and hardware to make sure pirates can no longer pirate our content. We do this together with the police, regulators and other partners to tackle the problem of streaming piracy.”

He noted that Irdeto was helping governments across the African continent change legislation that would make it easier to prosecute pirates.

According to Jonker, although the convictions for the pirates have been made, more steps need to be taken to make the penalties more deterrent.

“We have had a number of convictions in South Africa where pirates were fined R5,000 and some received suspended sentences. In South Africa, repeat offenders can face imprisonment.

“From a legal perspective, these penalties may not be very deterrent; The fines and prison sentences may not be that high, but what people don’t understand is that if you are found guilty of a criminal offense, you will have a criminal record. . So it doesn’t matter if you get a small or big fine, but you have a criminal record.”

He also warned the public about the dangers of enjoying pirated streaming content.

“Over the past few years, we have had a number of arrests in South Africa, including (in connection with) the operation of the notorious pirate network called Waka TV,” he says, noting that Waka TV is alleged to be working with international criminal organisations.

“That’s what people sometimes don’t realize. They believe that they just purchase this simple decoder or credentials called Waka TV to access the Waka TV platform. Ultimately, the point is that there are people behind these people and they are serious criminals.

“Once they get your information, they can really come after you. They can hack into your bank account; They can take over your identity and do many bad things with the information they have about you.

“For us, when we say we’re fighting piracy, that’s one element, but on the other hand, it’s protecting individuals out there. Because if we don’t eliminate these pirates, the people who entertain them will be exposed to many negative events. things that could happen to them.”

He warned that some of the revenues from pirated broadcasts would be used to finance terrorism.

Describing the hackers’ supply chain, he noted: “A lot of these guys go to China and ask a manufacturer to brand the decoder for them. The other way to access Waka TV is that you may not actually have a decoder, but you can use any streaming device or purchase logins from them.

“This isn’t just about Waka, it’s about all pirated streaming apps. They make money in two ways; They either sell you the box with illegal pre-installed software with access to pirate servers with illegal content, or they give you a username and password that allows people to watch illegal content. ”

He added that MultiChoice has established Partners Against Piracy (PAP), a pan-African initiative to combat piracy.

“As MultiChoice, we cannot fight piracy alone. We needed to join hands with other creatives in the industry. “We have already launched PAP in eight or nine African countries.”