Although content piracy has reached extreme heights—with visits to pirate sites rising from 130 billion in 2020 to 216 billion in 2024, according to MUSO data—there has never been a worse time to be a content pirate, nor a better time to be in the anti-piracy business.
In a new YouTube interview, executives from Friend MTS fielded questions from Faultline at IBC 2025 about whether anti-piracy is a broken record, and if the constant talk of collaboration is actually working.
While some of the messaging around community teamwork and consumer scaremongering resembles a bag of stale croutons, we are seeing more and more tangible evidence that cooperation between rights holders, technology vendors, and enforcement agencies is delivering results.
Since IBC, a wave of positive and public steps (an unusual combination for such a secretive sector) have injected a renewed sense of optimism into the anti-piracy space.
Thai takedown:
A prime example comes from Thailand, where authorities recently dismantled a criminal IPTV syndicate called INWIPTV—in a case of collaboration paying off after what was likely years of grueling investigative work. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) worked alongside local broadcaster TrueVisions and Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to take down the network.
One of the biggest drivers of piracy is price, with the rising cost of living often blamed for pushing viewers toward pirate websites or illicit IPTV services via Android or Amazon streaming devices. Yet INWIPTV reportedly charged around $8.90 a month for local and international channels, sports, and adult content, which is a steep fee in Thailand, where a full legitimate pay TV package can cost as little as $7 a month.
Stack on top multiple SVoD subscriptions and legitimate sports services, and the appeal of an all-in-one illegal service like INWIPTV comes into focus for consumers.
Operating since 2012 under its former name, FWIPTV, the service ran unchallenged for 13 years—longer than many legitimate start-ups. Twelve individuals are now being questioned, with seizures including servers, IPTV boxes, and storage devices.
ACE has been active elsewhere too. In January 2025, it helped shut down a major live sports piracy ring in Vietnam responsible for 812 million visits to illicit sites in the previous year, transferring 138 domains in what it called a major win for live sports protection.
ACE’s membership includes DAZN, which joined in 2023 and helped launch the ACE Sports Piracy Task Force alongside beIN Media—though we have heard little from that division since.
Sweden’s surrender:
In Europe, Sweden is one of the continent’s piracy hotspots. A Mediavision survey found that 30% of Swedes over the age of 15 consume illegal content every month. Due to this rampant piracy epidemic, the Swedish government is taking action—declaring that from July 2026 it will become a criminal offense to consume illegal IPTV services.
In most countries, running or distributing illegal IPTV services is already a crime, but purchasing or watching them is not. However, targeting consumers instead of providers raises questions—suggesting resources are being shifted away from a handful of major criminals to focus on millions of everyday users.
Anticipating criticism, one Swedish investigator argued that it is “almost impossible” to stop piracy at the source.
That poses the pond problem: is it better to catch one big fish or many small ones? In piracy terms, the big fish are elusive bottom feeders, and luring them to the surface has a depressingly low hit rate. Even so, there is a defeatist element to the forthcoming Swedish mandate, and government agencies will have to work overtime in the coming years to prove that the pivot is working.
Another issue with targeting consumers is obtaining proof. How can the Swedish government detect and legally confirm that consumers are using illegal IPTV services? If they figure out a watertight method that holds up in court in case after case, this could become a fearsome deterrent, akin to anti-knife campaigns encouraging people to anonymously surrender blades without repercussions.
“You wouldn’t steal a car. Why would you steal a movie?”
Everyone knows the now infamous anti-piracy slogan that naively attempted to compare physical theft with digital theft during the heights of the pirate DVD era.
That overdramatic campaign recalls the earlier car-theft adverts, which became more of a meme than a deterrent. A 2022 study by France’s ESSCA School of Management even found that such heavy-handed messaging can encourage piracy—by normalizing it and helping consumers rationalize their behavior.
Now MultiChoice, the South African media powerhouse, has a new spin—launching a campaign under the line “Keep it simple, keep it legal.”
This is aimed at rampant cross-border signal piracy, particularly households in Zimbabwe using credentials from South African DStv accounts. MultiChoice is offering incentives for users to register legitimate Zimbabwean subscriptions under its DStv ZIMnandi initiative.
Ironically, MultiChoice owns anti-piracy vendor Irdeto, which is conspicuously absent from mentions of the company’s regional crackdown.
So, while Sweden takes a big risk by going on the ultra-offensive, the APAC region is proving that pirates can, in fact, be sunk at source. Meanwhile, MultiChoice is taking an old school approach with a “friendly” messaging campaign. One fight, three very different approaches.