Amidst rapid increase of content piracy in Africa a South African pirate seller of hacked Android TV boxes with DStv gets 7 year jail sentence and ordered to pay R60 000.

by Thinus Ferreira

A Cape Town man, Jordan Lee Mott has been sentenced to 7 years jail time for copyright infringement and other crimes after he was found guilty of illegally selling hacked Android TV boxes enabling pirate viewing of MultiChoice's premium DStv pay-TV content. 

MultiChoice and Irdeto welcomed the conviction of Jordan Lee Mott in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Court. Piracy of content and pirate viewing is a fast-growing problem in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.

Jordan Lee Mott was arrested in October 2020 for selling hacked Android TV boxes with access to MultiChoice's premium DStv content which is copyright-protected. 

Jordan Lee Mott was charged with 7 counts of contravening Section 45 of the Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.

Jordan Lee Mott was found guilty on all 7 counts and sentenced to 7 years in jail, which was suspended for a period of 5 years on condition that the accused is not convicted again for contravening Section 45 of Act 70 of 2002.

Jordan Lee Mott was also ordered to pay R60 000 to the Criminal Asset Recovery Account.

MultiChoice in a statement welcomed the conviction and says more needs to be done to combat content piracy.

"Although the decision by the court is welcomed, there is more that needs to be done in terms of minimising the negative impact of piracy on content creation and the economy. It is important that we work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators of piracy face the might of the law."

"As piracy and cybercrime rapidly increase, it is important for us to remain vigilant and agile and ensure that perpetrators of digital crimes are brought to book. The conviction of the accused should be a warning to other perpetrators who are driving this illegal economy."

"Illegally sharing content leads to severe revenue losses and cripple economies, which means reduced investment and job losses affecting economic development," MultiChoice says.

The Randburg-based pay-TV operator is now also working with Partners Against Piracy to combat content piracy in Africa.

MultiChoice cracks down on password-sharing, limits DStv streaming to one device.

by Thinus Ferreira

In an attempt to crack down on password-sharing and pirate-viewing, MultiChoice will limit DStv video streaming to one device at a time from 22 March.

From 22 March MultiChoice will no longer allow a DStv subscriber to stream DStv Catch Up content - either library content or a linear TV channel as a live stream - on more than one device at the same time.

ALSO READ: No more soaps and soccer at the same time: DStv subscribers outraged over MultiChoice's live-stream limiting decision.

MultiChoice only told its own staffers on Tuesday about the decision, shortly before posting a notification to DStv subscribers on the MultiChoice website. 

MultiChoice didn't bother to tell the media or to communicate through emailing a basic press release detailing the changes from its own corporate communications team or the two PR companies, Duma Collective or JR Communications that MultiChoice has on retainer and pay to liaise with the media.

In a memorandum to MultiChoice staff on Tuesday, Nyiko Shiburi, MultiChoice South Africa CEO said that streaming services like that which MultiChoice provides, are challenged by password-sharing and piracy.

"This has a devastating effect on the growth of the entertainment industry generally. Therefore, streaming providers are compelled to take steps to address these activities."

Nyiko Shiburi said that MultiChoice is clamping down on allowing its customers from watching more than one live stream from 22 March 2022 and that "We will be communicating to customers regarding this today".

On its DStv website, MultiChoice later on Tuesday said "Password sharing and piracy are challenges for streaming providers globally".

"As part of our ongoing efforts to counteract password sharing and piracy, while continuing to bring you the best viewing experience, we will be introducing measures to limit concurrent streaming. From 22 March 2022 customers will be limited to streaming DStv on one device at a time. They will still be able to watch previously downloaded content on a second device."

MultiChoice says the change is being made to all DStv subscriptions across Africa but that "only customers making use of more than one concurrent stream will be directly affected by the change."

MultiChoice says the pay-TV operator "will not limit the number of people using a login, however, we are limiting (to one) the number of people who can stream at the same time."

If for instance, someone in a household is watching live streaming of a linear TV channel, someone else in the household won't be able to watch an episode of a series on another device or do binge-watching.

MultiChoice says that offline viewing is not impacted by this change and that the number of devices a DStv subscriber can have registered for streaming does not change with up to 4 registered devices that are allowed.

Showmax subscribers are not impacted and the change only applies when streaming DStv.

ALSO READ: No more soaps and soccer at the same time: DStv subscribers outraged over MultiChoice's live-stream limiting decision.

ALSO READ: What DStv's digital one-stream viewing limit is - and isn't.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice Q&A on new DStv live-stream limit clampdown: No 'family plan' for DStv streaming.

ALSO READ: Analysts: 'Complete lack of foresight': MultiChoice in trouble without sport and local content while its new live-stream clampdown limit to just 1 stream might force DStv subscribers to rivals like Netflix.