“These astronomic numbers demonstrate the large quantity of infringing content that is available online and which is easily accessible to search engine users,” the BPI says. Counting all notices since 2011 when the BPI began the practice, the tally now sits at 200 million URLs. The BPI notes that between January 2015 and March 2016, it submitted more than 100 million URL takedowns to Google and Bing. “Search engines – predominantly Google – also continue to provide millions of links to infringing content and websites that are hosted by non-compliant operators and hosts that cannot be closed down have needed to be blocked in the UK under s.97A court orders (website blocking).” “The main online piracy threats to the UK recorded music industry at present come from BitTorrent networks, MP3 aggregator sites, cyberlockers, unauthorised streaming sites, stream ripping sites and pirate sites accessed via mobile devices,” the BPI writes. In their submission to the report, the BPI cite three key areas of concern – online piracy, physical counterfeiting, and Internet-enabled sales of infringing physical content. More than a quarter of all complaints now relate to IPTV and 50% of the anti-piracy group’s current investigations involve IPTV boxes. Overall, FACT say that 70% of the public complaints they receive relate to online copyright infringement. Enforcement action has been widespread across the UK with numerous ongoing investigations,” FACT note. “In the last year FACT has worked with a wide range of partners and law enforcement bodies to tackle individuals and disrupt businesses selling illegal IPTV boxes. Once configured these boxes are illegal.”įACT say they are concentrating on two areas – raising awareness in the industry and elsewhere while carrying out enforcement and disruption operations. However, with the use of apps and add-ons, they allow users to access copyright infringing material, from live TV and sports, to premium pay-for channels and newly released films. “In their original form, these boxes are legitimate. “We have prioritised an emerging threat to the audiovisual industry, internet protocol TV (IPTV) boxes,” FACT write. Indeed, FACT say anti-IPTV work is now their top priority. In her report preamble, Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Neville-Rolfe describes anti-IPTV collaboration between the Federation Against Copyright Theft, Trading Standards, and the Police, as one of the year’s operational successes. While IPTV comes in several forms, the most common in respect of action in the UK involves devices loaded with the entirely legal Kodi software but augmented with illegal third-party addons. “The reasons for the spike in TV copyright infringement appear to be, in part, technological, with ‘unofficial services’ such as uTorrent, BitTorrent, TV catch up apps and established sources such as YouTube offering content without legal certainty,” it adds.īut while several methods of obtaining free TV content online are highlighted in the report, none achieve as much attention as IPTV. While noting that illicit music downloads have actually reduced in recent years, the report highlights areas that aren’t doing so well, TV show consumption for example. Similarly, 23% of films, 22% of software, 16% of TV and 15% of games were downloaded in breach of copyright.” “During a sample three-month period last year, 28% of those questioned admitted their music downloads in the UK came from illegal sources. “Perhaps the area where IP crime statistics most often reach jaw-dropping levels is in relation to the industries providing digital content,” the report reads. However, it is the latter area that appears to be causing the most concern to participating anti-piracy groups. Their annual IP Crime Report details the responses of businesses, anti-piracy groups, and government agencies.Īs usual, this year’s report covers all areas of IP crime, both in the physical realm and online. For more than a decade the IP Crime Group and the Intellectual Property Office have collaborated to produce an assessment of the level of IP crime in the UK.
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