This comes after AAPA found hundreds of IPTV services are using branded payment processors like Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal openly, and been growing with customer trust by using them. So AAPA listed a few methods on how these legitimate services can block illegal IPTV platforms.
IPTV Platforms Using Legal Payment Means
Most IPTV services we see today are illegal. Though they proudly broadcast the live streaming of sports and TV shows, they’re often subjected to many regulatory takedowns, and the customers using them are discouraged from doing so. Yet, we see plenty of them popping up every now and then. One of the critical things that makes these platforms succeed is the usage of legal payment processors. As per a 2018 report by Irdeto, an anti-piracy company, 76% of over 400 pirate IPTV sites openly use Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal as their payment options! Since these are branded and easy, using their logos and options builds trust with IPTV customers, who tend to pay up for illegal content more easily. Now, as per the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance, the situation hasn’t changed much.
Back then, about 21% of IPTV services used Visa, 21% used Mastercard, and 14% used PayPal as their payment option. Now, as per a study by the Disruption Working Group, over 17.3% of illegal IPTV sites are offering PayPal, 14.7% offer Mastercard, and 14.1% offer Visa as their payment means. While the usage of cryptocurrency has risen to 12% (up from 4.2%), the rightsholders don’t see it as a danger already, since many are unaware of how to use them for payments. Thus, in order to eradicate usage of legitimate payment processors for IPTVs, AAPA suggested that platforms – like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard be more attentive in terms of due diligence matters. Also, they stated the payment processors set up a streamlined system for rightsholders to complain and a transparent system to report on their actions for repeated infringers.
