High-earning young drive HK's piracy problem

Jun 25, 2018 at 06:49 pm by Staff


Pirate TV boxes continue to be a problem in Hong Kong, where almost a quarter of residents use the illicit streaming devices.

A new CASBAA survey shows half of those who use the devices had cancelled all or some of their subscriptions to legal pay TV services.

The ISD TV boxes allow users to access hundreds of thousands of pirated television channels and video-on-demand content, usually with the payment of a one-time fee. The BossTV, Ubox, EVPad, Lingcod and Magic Box TV boxes, which come pre-loaded with applications allowing 'plug-and-play' access are among the most popular.

More than 350 ISDs were recently seized in a Hong Kong Customs enforcement operation which led to the arrest and charging of four shop owners and four sales staff.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, highlights the effects of streaming piracy on legitimate online subscription services. Nineteen per cent said they had cancelled a specific part of their traditional cable TV bundle or packages after purchasing an ISD, and 21 per cent said they cancelled an international subscription service.

Managing director of CASBAA's Coalition Against Piracy Neil Gane says consumers also hurt themselves, because of the nexus between content piracy and malware: "The piracy ecosystem is a hotbed for malware. Unfortunately the appetite for free or paying cheap subscription rates for stolen content, blinkers some consumers from the real risks of malicious malware infection such as spyware."

The survey found that ISDs are particularly favoured among 25-34 year-olds and high income earners with university degrees.

Sections: Newsmedia industry

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