Canal+ said it has technology that can help find the people pirating DStv content.
DStv owner Canal+ has detailed the technology it is using in its fight against streaming piracy in South Africa.
In an article on the MultiChoice Group website, the company explained that its software and cybersecurity company, Irdeto, used IP blocking and forensic watermarking to fight content piracy.
“Illegal streaming services, illicit IPTV platforms, pirate websites, and unauthorised content distribution have evolved into a sophisticated digital ecosystem,” it said.
“Content can be copied, repackaged, and redistributed almost instantly, often across multiple platforms and jurisdictions.”
Canal+ said the consequences extend beyond just lost subscription revenue, impacting producers, writers, actors, technicians, and many other professionals.
It added that the piracy industry has changed significantly, with customers encountering illegal streaming services that look and operate like legitimate platforms.
“Some offer subscriptions, customer support, and access to premium film, series, and live sport,” Canal+ said.
It added that these services can package thousands of channels and programmes into a single unauthorised service.
“Operators can move quickly between websites, domains, and servers when enforcement action is taken,” it said.
It said this made piracy far harder to address than through content removal alone. Canal+ said the removal addresses the immediate infringement, but not the infrastructure behind it.
“That is why modern anti-piracy efforts increasingly combine technology, intelligence, enforcement, and disruption,” Canal+ said.
In this regard, it said Irdeto had developed a multi-layered approach to detect piracy online. This includes forensic watermarking, site blocking, payment disruption, and investigations.
It explained that it leverages Internet service provider (ISP) blocking to restrict access to pirate websites, domains, and IP addresses.
“In the context of content piracy, this can mean preventing users from reaching identified pirate websites or streaming services,” Canal+ said.
It explained that ISP blocking was an important intervention as illegal streams can attract large audiences within minutes.
“By the time a conventional takedown process is completed, the event may already be over and the stream may have generated significant traffic and revenue for the operator,” it said.
Canal+ said DStv content also included forensic watermarks, or invisible identifiers, that enable Irdeto to determine where the pirated content originated.
“If that content later appears on an illegal service, the watermark can help identify where the content came from and, in some applications, the individual stream or account involved,” it said.
“Irdeto’s TraceMark technology is designed to maintain this traceability even when content has been re-encoded, resized, captured, or otherwise manipulated.”
It explained that this created a critical link between detection and enforcement rather than simply knowing that content has been stolen.
“Rights holders can potentially establish how it was obtained and take action at the source,” the company stated.
In March 2026, DStv confirmed to MyBroadband that it had deactivated 819 end-user pirate streaming accounts.
This came after two raids in Cape Town, where authorities accessed a pirate streaming provider’s management panel and found the accounts of which 715 were active.
The operation took place on 5 March 2026 and led to the arrest of a suspect involved in illegal streaming.
“During the raid, one cellphone was confiscated and will also be subjected to forensic analysis. The individual appeared in court on 6 March 2026,” Canal+ said.
While accessing the provider’s management panel, investigators also secured the system credentials for further analysis, and the raids resulted in several additional arrests.
“A suspect linked to the sale of illegal Internet streaming services was arrested,” Canal+ said. “Two cellphones were seized and will undergo download and forensic examination.”
The individuals arrested in both raids were formally charged under the Cybercrimes Act for unauthorised access to and interception of data.
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