The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) reported piracy takedown success for the Indian Premier League (“IPL”) 2023 tournament. Monitoring and protection efforts IBCAP were instrumental in mitigating the piracy of live cricket matches worldwide, which were in full force for the duration of the tournament.
The team was able to disrupt nearly 9,000 streams over the course of the tournament, with more than 3.6 million views being disrupted on Facebook Live streams. The IBCAP team achieved an impressive 100% takedown rate for social media and mobile applications, constituting a significant portion of the infringing content.
Staffing in India and the U.S. enabled real-time disruption of live matches. Takedowns were sent on behalf of Willow and Cricbuzz, two members of IBCAP; and efforts were focused on set-top boxes and IPTV services, web linear, social media, and mobile applications.
Cricbuzz membership in IBCAP was announced in May 2023. Cricbuzz has exclusive streaming rights for IPL 2023 in key countries, including Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden, cricket enthusiasts across the region can view programming via the Cricbuzz app.
Efforts praised
“Willow TV has been a member of IBCAP for over eight years, and we are very pleased with the coalition’s impact in mitigating piracy of major cricket tournaments such as the IPL,” said Todd Myers, COO of Willow TV. “We appreciate that IBCAP puts together a customized strategy for each tournament, and their results, which include this season’s IPL tournament, are a testament to their commitment to containing cricket piracy. Their automated monitoring and takedown tools are highly efficient and effective.”
“We are highly impressed by IBCAP’s monitoring capabilities in Europe and the Middle East. Their methods and tools are effective, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them in the fight against piracy,” said Chintan Udani, Product and Business Lead for Cricbuzz.
Further reading
IBCAP Reports Major Disruption of Piracy in Indian Premier League 2023 Tournament Coverage. Press release. July 18, 2023. International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP)
Why it matters
The impact of early and frequent takedowns throughout the IPL 2023 tournament undoubtedly led to frustration for pirates, increased legal viewership of the matches by consumers, and resulted in the acquisition of new paying customers for IBCAP members. The data once again shows that early action and consistent takedowns, particularly for cricket tournaments and other live sports coverage, result in a poor experience for users of pirate services and cause many of those users to switch to legal providers.
“(IBCAP’s) ability to provide the resources and expertise needed to handle a tournament with a global reach as large as the IPL is further proof of our focus on automated monitoring and takedown tools, combined with the expertise of our IBCAP lab and legal teams,” said Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP. “The results announced today significantly benefit our members as it encouraged consumers to turn to legitimate sources to view their favorite sports matches and games. Paying for and viewing illegal streaming services is just not worth the risk.”
