Advanced Television

Irdeto fights broadcast piracy in Egypt

August 27, 2014

As a part of a collaborative investigation to stop the illegal distribution of satellite channels across the African continent, Irdeto, in conjunction with African pay-TV operators, the Egyptian Cybercrime Unit and Egyptian Ministry of Interior, have made significant progress with the arrest of two Egyptian suspects on August 11th. These arrests mark the culmination of one of the largest investigations into a large-scale smartcard sharing piracy network.

Members of the Egyptian Cybercrimes Unit and several other enforcement agencies raided the Cairo premises of a pirate operation suspected of controlling and managing a major smartcard sharing network, operating throughout Africa. The raid uncovered several electronic components, a server, 40 smartcards, several pirate decoders, smartcard readers and other related equipment typically used within a pirate smartcard sharing operation. Cash of over $230,000 was also seized during the raid. All equipment confiscated during the raids will be analysed by the Egyptian Cybercrimes Unit and more arrests are forthcoming.  The two suspects that were arrested have been detained in custody, pending a court appearance.

Rory O’Connor, VP of Services at Irdeto, said, “As long as there are consumers who are prepared to pay for illegal content, pirates will continue to try to hack encryption systems and turn a profit. Irdeto remains dedicated to identifying and countering organised criminal enterprises who wish to circumvent our customers’ security measures and financially profit from pirated content. Together with the pay-TV operators and local authorities, we will relentlessly fight these illegal operations on the African continent, using technology and the law to its fullest extent.”

The Irdeto Anti-Piracy and Forensics (APF) Unit exists to identify and counter individuals and enterprises who wish to circumvent an operator’s security measures and financially profit from pirated content. Understanding where piracy is occurring – and actively taking measures to stop it – is pivotal to successfully growing revenues and protecting the pay-TV business model.

Categories: Articles, Content, Piracy