IPL piracy: Broadcasters to approach Trai to mandate smarter set-top boxes

The Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament has delivered high entertainment value, but rampant piracy has posed significant challenges for broadcasters like Star India, causing them losses.

In response to the growing menace of pirated content, broadcasters are expected to approach the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), urging them to mandate advanced content protection technologies such as forensic watermarking in direct-to-home (DTH) set-top boxes, two broadcasting industry executives aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

Solution to content piracy

The reason for broadcasters to demand smarter set-top boxes is that these devices are the main source of content piracy, leading to revenue losses for broadcasters. “Currently, if content piracy occurs using either hardware or virtual set-top boxes (used in streaming television over broadband), there is no way to detect and block the source,” said the first executive.

Forensic watermarking in set-top boxes means that eacIndustryh box adds a hidden, invisible code into the content it plays — like a digital fingerprint that is unique to that user or device. If the content is pirated using those devices, that watermark can be detected and traced back to the exact set-top box.

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“Broadcasters through Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) are expected to soon approach Trai to extend the mandate of forensic watermarking to cable TV providers and DTH operators. Currently, the same is limited to IPTV (internet protocol television) in Schedule-X of Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Fifth Amendment) Regulations,” the second executive said, adding that even for IPTV, the Trai regulations have not been implemented in full by the operators.

IPTV is a way of watching TV using the internet instead of a satellite dish or cable. It lets users stream live channels, movies, and shows directly on smart TV, phone, or laptop, through an internet connection using a virtual or physical set-top box.

“Trai could play a big role in stopping piracy. It can make sure that only approved IPTV services are allowed to operate,” said Aslam Ahmed, partner at Singhania & Co. According to Ahmed, there could be a possibility that the forensic watermarking becomes a mandate for the set-top boxes used by DTH/ cable operators in India due to the rising piracy concerns.

The second executive added that BIS can mandate that all consumer set-top boxes sold in India must support specific content protection technologies and implement testing and certification protocols.

Government probes piracy networks

Queries emailed to IBDF, which represents major broadcasters like Star, Zee, TV18, Sun TV, among others, did not elicit any response till press time.

The size of India’s piracy economy was ₹22,400 crore in 2023, according to a report by EY and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) released in October last year. According to the report, 51% media consumers in India access content from pirated sources.

Of the ₹22,400 crore, ₹13,700 crore was generated from pirated content from movie theaters while ₹8,700 crore was generated from OTT platforms. The government was estimated to have incurred a potential goods and services tax (GST) loss of up to ₹4,300 crore, the report said.

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“The government is aware about the issue and many broadcasters are facing this. Pirates have found a method to bypass the current fingerprinting technology used by major DTH providers, making it challenging to trace and identify the specific consumer set-top box involved in piracy,” a government official said, adding that it is also investigating a case where Chinese satellite is being used by an Afghanistan-based entity Watan TV for unauthorized transmission of copyrighted content, both within the jurisdiction of India and neighbouring countries.

According to the official, Watan TV was found pirating Indian content through the illegal use of Indian DTH set-top-boxes which are smuggled out of the country. “The same cannot be disabled by Indian operators remotely without forensic watermarking technology in those set-top boxes,” the official added.

Legal battles against piracy

The issue of content piracy assumes significance as Star India, which holds the broadcasting rights for major sporting events including the ICC Champions Trophy, and the IPL, sued resellers who were distributing illegal IPTV app for unauthorized streaming of IPL 2025.

Last month, Star India discovered a WhatsApp group named ‘BOSTV’ with 617 members. The group was offering access to over 8,500 live TV channels, 29,000 movies (including banned channels from Pakistan), and around 3,000 web series. They also shared payment barcodes and login details for a rogue website, which are frequently changed to avoid being blocked by authorities. The domains/apps which were made being sold by the operator was largely sold on the pretext of watching all Indian linear channels including IPL 2025 for a highly discounted price, the company told the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court in an order dated 9 April granted an injunction in favour of Star India, restraining several rogue websites from illegally streaming the ongoing IPL matches.

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In February, too, the Delhi High Court issued an order restraining the unauthorized streaming of Star India’s content via IPTV Smarters Pro and other similar IPTV streaming applications. IPTV Smarters Pro is a media streaming app compatible with smart TVs, Android, iOS, Windows, and other platforms. It allows users to stream live TV, sports, entertainment, and more.

Soumen Mohanty, partner at Aquilaw, a law firm, said, “There is a need to bring together broadcasters, cybersecurity experts, and distribution platform operators (DPOs) to create a system that monitors and responds to piracy in real time. Trai, along with the ministry of information and broadcasting, should take strict legal action against illegal IPTV services and repeat offenders involved in content piracy.”