Surveys commissioned by the Asia Video Industry Association’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) found that while piracy rates remain stable in many countries in the APAC region, they were up significantly in Thailand and Taiwan, and slightly in Hong Kong. Notably, rights holders face challenges in procuring effective and efficient site blocking in all three.
On the other hand, countries implementing site blocking continue to show demonstrable effects. Â 62% of consumers in Indonesia and 64% in Malaysia indicated that they have changed their viewing habits as a result of pirate sites being blocked. Both countries have long-running, effective and efficient regulatory blocking regimes.
Singapore, after almost ten years of site blocking in place, has the lowest percentage of consumer piracy in the region, with only 39% of consumers pirating. Â Singapore was one of the first countries in the region to allow rights holders to protect their content via judicial site blocking measures.
Blocking promotes legitimate sources
The surveys show that regular site blocking not only stops consumers accessing pirated content online, but also drives them towards legitimate sources, with an average of 20% of consumers subscribing to paid services and an average of over 40% accessing legitimate free content services as a result of pirate sites being blocked.
Aware of the consequences
Awareness of the risks associated with online piracy also continues to grow, with at least 80% of consumers in every market around the region unequivocal that piracy has negative consequences. Consumers are aware that the perceived damage varies from job losses, impact on the creative industries and also the risk of malware infection on personal computers and devices.
In addition to consumers accessing pirate content via pirate streaming sites, apps or illicit streaming devices (ISDs), social media and messaging platforms providing access to pirated content continue to be a concern as one of the main sources of accessing pirate content. CAP is working with the major platforms across the region to address this issue.
Further reading
2023 CAP Consumer Surveys continue to show the benefits of effective site blocking. Â Press release. May 15, 2023. Coalition Against Piracy. Â Asia Video Industry Association.
Why it matters
The survey uncovered huge unmet potential as nearly 50% of consumers around the region stated they would subscribe to legitimate paid online services if the content they wanted to watch was not available via a pirate source. This conversion rate rose to 60% if no pirate content were available through social media and messaging platforms.
