The fight against piracy continues. Homeland security is targeting piracy along with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Hollywood studios, and other MPA members. This current wave of legal action is mainly focused on IPTV users and streamers that frequent these platforms.
Despite the efforts of MPA and ACE to lobby against piracy, their efforts have lacked an ability to raise public awareness. They have also had a hard time involving government entities and law enforcement that would render their efforts more effective.
This is why these companies and organizations are looking to form high-level partnerships to better target piracy.
MoU Agreement
A broad coalition has been announced between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center, ACE, MPA, and the IPR Center. Working together, these groups aim to work with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from Homeland Security. This is to bolster their protection efforts that are aimed at countering the plague of piracy.
A virtual ceremony was held to mark the beginning of this partnership. Different groups signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The signees included the Executive Associated Director for Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) Derek Banner as well as the Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel for the MPA, Karyn Temple.
According to the MoU, this partnership is aimed at supporting digital piracy investigations. These are being carried out by the IPR Center in collaboration with the Homeland Security Investigations department. They have vowed to share information and resources that will enable them to catch digital piracy perpetrators by working with existing anti-piracy groups.
According to Benner, there’s never been a better time than now for law enforcement to work with content creative industries to protect consumers and curb the scourge of digital piracy.
The IPR Center plans to implement a comprehensive strategy. This strategy is aimed at creating a holistic digital ecosystem that’s based on helping people to understand property rights laws. They also help with the dangers of illegal streaming, which a lot of people engage in without realizing just how detrimental it can be. This will go a long way to dismantle the criminal organizations behind these digital piracy rings.
A Campaign to Spread the Word
This new coalition didn’t stop at signing this mutually beneficial MoU, however. They also plan on introducing a public service awareness campaign that’s aimed at dissuading people from using these services in the first place.
This campaign will work in parallel with the large-scale work of law enforcement bodies and anti-piracy groups.
The “StreamSafely” portal is expected to play a huge role in attracting piracy viewers away from illegal online streaming platforms such as IPTV and onto the straight and narrow. But, this isn’t the only way that homeland security targets piracy.
Dangers of Using Torrent Websites
As homeland security targets piracy, the agency has resorted to warning users about the dangers of using torrent websites. Agencies had tried to appeal to pirates and get them to consider the harm they’re doing to creators. Having failed with this strategy, these groups have turned their attention to getting the pirates to consider the harm they’re doing to themselves.
You see, this campaign is aimed at alerting pirates about the dangers of streaming copyrighted and pirated content. This is because the torrent websites that provide it often come with the risk of malware.
Consumers might very well be convinced to think again before using a torrenting website when they consider the potential risk of having their machines be infected and the repercussions of what on their social security numbers, bank details, and personal information. Who knows where all this information could end up if shared on the wrong website?
While this is a message that many will have heard before, it’s difficult to provide proof of such dangers. This is despite the effort that’s made to offer links to papers that back these claims.
Nevertheless, the main issue here is that most piracy websites are just too easy to use. This anti-malware message is usually not enough to dissuade people to stray from these portals.
One creative way through which agencies can counter this problem is by offering specific and clear evidence of how malware can cause harm to a user through things like identity theft. They should link this directly to the use of piracy platforms. It would also help to name and shame piracy services to show users just how harmful their actions can be.
Unfortunately, this strategy is yet to be implemented in this manner. This is because agencies have failed to explain to users exactly how these various dangers can occur.
But, it would bode well for these agencies to add this element to their campaigns in order to bolster consumer confidence and show that they’re on a mission to not just protect copyright holders and content creators but consumers as well. This kind of strategy is a win-win for everyone.
What is the Campaign Doing?
The StreamSafely campaign comes with a lot of beneficial aspects as well. This includes highlighting the safety of using legal streaming platforms like Netflix, which can guarantee user safety and that one’s personal information will be kept safe and secure.
Things like IPTVs illicit nature simply stand out when compared to the legitimacy of platforms like Netflix. While many users can argue that they haven’t faced any particularly alarming consequences from using platforms like IPTV, it’s hard to deny the amount of money that people have lost in the past from using these services.
How many cheap piracy sites have been shut down for illegal content distribution, thus costing users untold amounts and walking away virtually scot-free after sacrificing consumer usernames and details.
Piracy app users and IPTV viewers will surely understand this message. They’ve seen this happen before, and it’ll work much better than the malware angle for sure.
Conclusion
While homeland security targets piracy, it’s become clear that torrenting has become quite popular. Many users have cited the ease of use, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of these platforms compared to more limited, albeit legal ones.
Through a comprehensive approach and collaboration between different agencies, “the good guys” are hoping to attract users away from piracy platforms. All this while educating the public about the dangers of using illegal piracy sites and apps.
The only recourse for users who want to continue using the Internet freely is to do so with a VPN like IPVanish. A VPN would protect your identity by not keeping a log of user history and using advanced encryption technology. That’s why it’s considered one of the best VPNs in the industry.
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