Illegal streaming is dominating online piracy

Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

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Online piracy has shifted from peer-to-peer downloads to illegal video-streaming sites when accessing film and TV content, according to a study from piracy tracking company Muso.

The study tracked global traffic from 14,000 of the largest piracy sites, consisting of over 141 billion visits across 200 million measured devices. Its findings indicate that entertainment and media companies seeking to clamp down on stolen content should be vigilant against illegal streaming sites.

Here are some highlights from the report:

• Streaming websites made up 73.7% of 78.5 billion visits to access pirated film and TV content last year. These are websites that illegally host streams to full movies or television shows, and generate revenue from ads. 
• Torrent-based sites represented a mere 17.2% of total visits to piracy sites, and direct-download sites making up the remainng 0.01%. Visits to torrent sites declined 19% in the second half of 2015 compared to the first six months of the year. 

The true cost of pirated content on the film and entertainment industry is relatively ambiguous. Several studies have attempted to answer this question, but their methodologies and results have been contested. An oft-cited study from 2006 commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and conducted by the Institute for Policy Innovation found that film piracy cost the US economy $20.5 billion annually.

This study was itself based on a previous estimate by the MPAA and LEK Consulting that found piracy costs movie studios $6.1 billion a year. Yet this initial estimate was overstated by 300%, according to an article in the Peoples, Ideas, and Things Journal from the University of North Carolina. 

Nonetheless, illegal streaming has the potential to not only harm relevant media companies but also consumers. Around half of the ads hosted on illegal sports streaming sites are malicious, according to a joint-study conducted by the KU Leuven University and Stony Brook University. By communicating the risks of visiting illegal streaming sites, media companies may persuade users to opt for legal streaming subscriptions and content purchases instead. 

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