Using Viaccess-Orca's Anti-Piracy Solution, OSN Eliminated More Than 60% of Illegal Links, in Real Time, Throughout the Live Sporting Event
PARIS -- April 27, 2015 -- OSN, the MENA region's leading pay-TV network, successfully eliminated over 60 percent of the illegal links of the top matches at the recent 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, and interrupted illegal viewing for over 50 percent of the audience who were accessing pirated content, further bolstering its anti-piracy efforts.
OSN worked with Viaccess-Orca, a global leader in the protection and enhancement of content services, for a "proof-of-concept" project to combat the real-time distribution and viewing of illegal content, using its Eye on Piracy solution.
"OSN is at the forefront in fighting the menace of TV piracy, which stifles the growth of the industry. As the region's definitive 'home of cricket,' we have invested significantly in ensuring high quality transmission of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup live to our subscribers. Being one of the most sought-after live events, the tournament was highly targeted by unauthorised content distributors. Addressing it was imperative to ensure that the best interests of our subscribers were not compromised and also to dissuade any act of TV piracy that is a blatant violation of intellectual property rights," said Mark Billinge, Chief Technology Officer at OSN. "Collaborating with Viaccess-Orca, we successfully monitored and took down a significant number of illegal streams during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup to protect OSN's content rights."
Viaccess-Orca's Eye on Piracy solution enabled OSN to adapt its content protection techniques to dedicated sport events in order to achieve optimum results. For example, during this year's ICC Cricket World Cup, OSN could monitor specialised web sites, forums, blogs, social network posts, and more, surrounding the event.
Designed to complement security measures enabled by CA and DRM systems, Viaccess-Orca's Eye on Piracy actively monitors live video re-streaming over the Internet in a series of stages. First, the anti-piracy solution monitors where piracy occurs, the amount of piracy that is taking place, and who is actually watching the illegal broadcasts. Then it sends legal notices to pirates to cease and desist in addition to using technical methods to prevent pirates from rebroadcasting premium content. Finally, Eye on Piracy enables the gathering of legal evidence about the pirated activity. This evidence can be submitted to local law enforcement or government agencies to close pirate operations.
"Piracy is not a new phenomenon, but it is evolving by taking advantage of over-the-top technologies and infrastructures to illegally distribute content. As people consume premium content on more devices and the value of content grows, content owners and service providers need an intelligent and flexible strategy for protecting live content," said David Leporini, EVP Marketing Products and Security, at Viaccess-Orca. "During this project, we demonstrated the effectiveness of Eye on Piracy as a tool for providing smart discovery of pirated content and removal of illegal content streams, giving OSN a viable method for preserving their revenue for live sporting events."
Viaccess-Orca will demonstrate Eye on Piracy at TV CONNECT 2015, April 28-30, in London. To see a live demonstration of the solution, visit stand 87.
More information about sports live streaming piracy can be found in Viaccess-Orca's Combating TV Sports Piracy infographic.
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Note to Editors
About Viaccess-Orca:
As a leading global provider of content protection, delivery, and discovery solutions, Viaccess-Orca is shaping the ultimate content experience. Through its integrated range of business-savvy products and solutions, Viaccess-Orca helps service providers in the cable, DTT, satellite, IPTV, and OTT industries gain a competitive edge in today's rapidly evolving multiscreen environment. By enabling service providers to securely deliver an engaging user experience on any device, Viaccess-Orca is reinventing the entertainment landscape. Viaccess-Orca is part of the Orange Group. For more information, visit www.viaccess-orca.com or follow the company on Twitter @ViaccessOrca and LinkedIn.
About OSN:
OSN is the ultimate destination for the widest choice of brand new premium Western, Arabic, South Asian (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil) and Filipino entertainment in the Middle East and Africa.
OSN is the home to over 150 channels and services filled with great value entertainment, offering viewers in the MENA region exclusive access to the latest blockbuster movies, top rated series, sports, documentaries, news, kid's entertainment and live talk shows. The movie offering includes over a 100 uncut and uninterrupted movie premieres a month.
OSN boasts the most comprehensive portfolio of exclusive rights from all the major studios including Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM, NBC Universal, HBO and DreamWorks and offers access to the world's leading television brands including Disney channel, Sky News, Discovery Network and National Geographic.
Launched in August 2013, OSN Pehla brings the best of Bollywood movies and premium cricket, including exclusive telecast rights of international tournaments such as the ICC Cricket World Cup and Indian cricket, through leading sports channels OSN Sports Cricket HD and Ten Cricket.
As the leader in innovation, OSN has changed the TV viewing experience by bringing quality entertainment through 59 High Definition channels and is currently the only network offering a full HD bouquet of channels as well as 3D entertainment in the region.
OSN was the first to launch the OSN DVR HD; the regions first online TV platform, OSN Play; the regions first 3D, HD, internet enabled satellite receiver and recorder, OSN Plus HD and the region's first VOD service, OSN on Demand offering viewers the opportunity to watch over 1000 movies and 52 latest seasons of the top series, all available in full HD quality and Dolby Digital sound.
September 2012 saw the launch of OSN's rewards programme, OSN Privileges, offering subscribers money can't buy experiences, special offers and premium prizes all year round.
Addressing the changing viewing habits of consumers across the region, in May 2014, OSN launched 'GO', an online TV service providing subscribers access to thousands of hours of premium entertainment, contract and commitment-free.
The OSN platform is owned and operated by Panther Media Group Limited; a company registered in DIFC, and is owned by KIPCO and Mawarid Group Limited.
