Anti-Piracy and ISP Blocking: Safeguarding Africa’s Creative Economy

Africa’s creative economy is entering an important period of growth. Audiences across the continent are consuming more African stories, local productions and live sport than ever before.

Streaming platforms have widened access to entertainment, while smartphones have put content in the hands of millions. At the same time, African creators are reaching audiences well beyond their home markets.

However, the same digital infrastructure driving this growth has also made piracy easier and more sophisticated.

Illegal streaming services, illicit IPTV platforms, pirate websites and unauthorised content distribution have created a digital ecosystem capable of copying and redistributing content almost instantly.

The impact goes far beyond lost subscription revenue. Piracy affects producers, writers, actors, technicians and the many other professionals whose livelihoods depend on a sustainable creative industry.

Piracy has evolved beyond illegal downloads

Piracy is no longer simply about downloading a film or sharing a file.

Today, consumers can encounter illegal streaming services that look much like legitimate platforms. Some offer subscriptions, customer support and access to premium films, series and live sports.

Pirate IPTV services can also package thousands of channels and programmes into a single unauthorized service. When enforcement action targets one website or platform, operators can quickly move to another domain or server.

This makes content removal alone an increasingly difficult solution.

Removing an illegal stream may stop a specific infringement, but it does not necessarily disrupt the infrastructure supporting the operation.

As a result, modern anti-piracy strategies increasingly combine technology, intelligence, enforcement and disruption.

MultiChoice’s technology business, Irdeto, has developed a multi-layered approach that includes online piracy detection, forensic watermarking, site blocking, payment disruption and investigations.

Anti-Piracy and ISP Blocking: Safeguarding Africa’s Creative Economy

What is ISP blocking?

ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. It refers to the company that connects consumers to the internet.

ISP blocking involves restricting access to specific websites, domains or IP addresses associated with illegal activity.

In the case of piracy, this can prevent users from accessing identified pirate websites or streaming services.

Importantly, ISP blocking does not remove the pirated content itself. Instead, it restricts the route through which users access that content.

Irdeto’s site-blocking technology is designed to identify and verify pirate infrastructure before providing information to ISPs for blocking.

The technology supports domain, IP and DNS-level blocking. It also supports dynamic and real-time blocking.

These safeguards are important because pirate operators can use shared domains and IP addresses that may also host legitimate services. Effective blocking therefore requires careful verification to avoid affecting lawful internet use.

Irdeto says it is also working with hosting providers through Memorandums of Understanding to help isolate illicit infrastructure while protecting legitimate services.

Why blocking matters during live events

Speed matters when dealing with digital piracy, particularly during major live sporting events.

An illegal stream can attract thousands of viewers within minutes. By the time a conventional takedown process is completed, the event may already be over.

ISP blocking provides another way to disrupt access while the infringement is taking place.

Irdeto’s technology continuously monitors pirate websites, IPTV services, apps and streaming platforms. It can identify infringing infrastructure and update blocks when pirate operators change domains or IP addresses.

This dynamic approach is important because pirate operators are constantly adapting.

When one domain disappears, another can quickly take its place. Effective blocking must therefore go beyond a one-time intervention.

Tracking stolen content through technology

ISP blocking is only one part of the response.

Forensic watermarking is another important tool. A forensic watermark is an invisible identifier embedded into video content.

If that content later appears on an illegal platform, the watermark can help rights holders identify where it came from and, in some cases, the individual stream or account involved.

Irdeto’s TraceMark technology is designed to maintain this traceability even when content has been re-encoded, resized, captured or manipulated.

This creates an important connection between detection and enforcement. Rights holders can potentially move beyond simply identifying stolen content to understanding how it was obtained.

Irdeto and MultiChoice have also combined real-time analysis, watermarking and IP blocking to combat piracy during live events.

During the 2023 Rugby World Cup, for example, the companies identified pirate streams, traced accounts through watermarking and blocked rogue IP addresses during matches.

Following the money

Technology can also target another critical part of the piracy ecosystem: money.

Pirate services need revenue to operate. Irdeto’s payment-disruption services identify payment options used by illegal streaming services and work with relevant platforms to remove those channels.

This approach targets the business model that allows pirate services to operate and attract paying customers.

Together, the different interventions create a broader anti-piracy chain:

Detect. Identify. Trace. Block. Disrupt. Enforce.

Each step targets a different part of the piracy ecosystem.

Blocking is not a standalone solution

ISP blocking can be an important tool, but it cannot eliminate piracy on its own.

Piracy operators are highly adaptable. They can change domains, move servers and develop new ways of distributing content.

There are also legitimate concerns around how internet blocking is implemented. Any blocking framework needs to operate within a clear legal and regulatory environment, with appropriate oversight and safeguards.

The goal should be to disrupt illegal activity without unnecessarily affecting legitimate businesses or lawful internet use.

For that reason, ISP blocking works best as part of a wider anti-piracy ecosystem involving rights holders, technology companies, ISPs, regulators, payment providers and law enforcement agencies.

Protecting Africa’s creative economy

The stakes extend well beyond broadcasters and streaming platforms.

A film, television series or live sporting event represents investment across a much wider ecosystem. Producers, writers, actors, directors, technicians, distributors and other businesses all depend on legitimate content revenues.

When content is illegally distributed, value is diverted away from this ecosystem.

Over time, that can affect the ability to finance new productions, create jobs and develop the next generation of African talent.

MultiChoice has identified digital piracy as a significant threat to the creative ecosystem supporting local content and employment across Africa. Its response combines technical, legal and operational measures.

The opportunity for Africa’s creative industries remains enormous.

African stories are reaching global audiences. Local productions are gaining visibility, and digital distribution is opening new markets for creators.

But creative economies cannot grow on talent alone. They need investment.

And investment depends on confidence that intellectual property will receive meaningful protection and that legitimate content can generate sustainable value.

That is ultimately why the fight against piracy matters. It is not simply about protecting content. It is about protecting the people, businesses and investments that make Africa’s creative economy possible.