Survey Shows That 15% of S’poreans Use TV Boxes That Stream Pirated Contents

With online piracy being all the rage nowadays, one can’t help but wonder:

Just how many Singaporeans are guilty of going ‘hohoho’ while watching ‘legal’ movies?

Yet while we could only previously speculate, it seems that the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) has done us all a favour:

By collating results from a survey that entailed just how prominent the ‘pirate nation’ in Singapore is.

The Magical Number

According to Channel NewsAsia, a new survey commissioned by the CAP has revealed some pretty static figures:

Fifteen per cent of Singaporean consumers supposedly use TV boxes that can broadcast pirated television and video content.

Additionally, the survey also discovered that more than one-quarter of those TV box users had unsubscribed to the service, citing legitimate video services as a direct result of them owning the devices.

As for the apps in question, MyIPTV, UBTV, WorldTV, MoonHD and Infinity TV were found to be some of the most popular applications among Singaporean consumers.

More than 1,000 consumers took part in the survey, while members of the CAP include renowned names like Discovery, The Walt Disney Company, FOX Networks Group, HBO Asia, La Liga, NBCUniversal, Netflix and the Premier League.

In a media release, CAP also expressed the thing about TV boxes that make every Singaporean take on a ‘sword’ and ‘eye-patch’.

“These TV boxes allow users to access hundreds of pirated television channels and video-on-demand content, usually with a low annual subscription fee,” the CAP said.

“TV boxes often come pre-loaded with illegal applications allowing plug-and-play access to pirated content.”

And the crackdown isn’t stopping anytime soon

If there’s one thing for sure, CAP is clearly intent on disrupting the entire piracy movement going on.

“The overt availability of illicit streaming devices in Singaporean malls and IT exhibitions is a major concern for the content industry,” said CAP general manager Neil Gane.

“Unfortunately, there is no one silver bullet to deterring piracy due to the fragmented nature of the ecosystem.

“What is required is a holistic solution to include enforcement, co-operation with technology platforms and intermediaries, and disabling access to pirated content through effective site blocking and consumer outreach,” he added.

And it’s further exemplified by this statement:

“CAP will continue to prevent and disrupt illegal feeds of live sports, TV channels, and video-on-demand content through judicial blocking orders against piracy applications,” Mr Gane said.

Meanwhile illegal service providers be like:

Blocking access to TV Boxes

Incidentally, the release of the survey comes one week after the Singapore High Court ordered Internet service providers to block access to TV box apps. Lest you’re unaware, we penned an article on the issue, which you can read more here.

Just a little snippet here (totally not because I’m fluffing up my word quota):

“Apparently, the development follows the hearing of a motion that had been filed in October by Singnet, Fox Networks Group Singapore, NGC Network Asia, Fox International Channels (US) and The Football Association Premier League.

And as such apps “flagrantly infringe copyright by acting as gateways to websites streaming pirated content”, according to the Asia Video Industry Association’s (AVIA) Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), the motion was eventually passed.

“These apps are preloaded on TV boxes which are overtly sold in retail outlets such as Sim Lim Square, IT exhibitions and on popular e-markets,” CAP added.

The motion was held in the High Court on 2 Nov, and Judicial Commissioner Dedar Singh Gill went on to approve the proposed orders against eight authentication server domains.

A real sucker punch for individuals who just got themselves a TV box, I’m sure.

At the end of the line

And with everything said, you can’t help but wonder:

Will piracy truly be stopped?

Seeing how there are probably pirates still running around in some foreign land today, I guess the answer’s that:

We can curb it, but we can probably never stop it.

…

Mcm like cockroaches.

You’ve never seen such cute Xiao Qiangs before, right? 😉