SAO PAULO – The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy, Inc. (IBCAP), an alliance of leading international broadcasters committed to combatting unauthorized streaming and distribution of international television content in the United States, and NAGRA, a Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD.S) company and the world's leading independent provider of content protection and multiscreen television solutions, have entered into an expanded agreement to bring a new generation of anti-piracy technology and services to broadcasters and distributors of international and multicultural content.

“While anti-piracy measures against mainstream content seem to be an increasing priority for distributors and content owners, no organization was focused exclusively on protecting international and multicultural content. IBCAP was formed three years ago to fill this gap and has achieved significant success through its monitoring and takedown efforts,” said Chris Kuelling, Executive Director of IBCAP. “The expansion of our agreement with NAGRA will help us leverage the latest technologies and expertise in content protection and anti-piracy with the aim of putting pirates out of business and replacing them with legitimate providers.”

“NAGRA is constantly expanding its portfolio of content value protection technologies and services, and this contract marks a milestone in our commitment to support broadcasters and content creators in the protection of their content from piracy in foreign markets,” said Frederic Guitard, Vice President Media Security Services for NAGRA. “Developing automated, state-of-the-art tools to detect unauthorized streaming - especially on increasingly popular IPTV set-top boxes and Kodi add-ons - helps ensure we can take swift and decisive action against pirates and maintain the value of the services offered to IBCAP members.”

Since IBCAP’s collaboration with NAGRA in 2014, lawsuits supported by NAGRA, or related to foreign language anti-piracy initiatives, have resulted in federal courts in various states ordering providers and retailers of piracy services to cease their infringing activities and pay millions of dollars for violating IBCAP members’ copyrights.

As part of the expanded agreement, both IBCAP and NAGRA will implement various strategies focused on combatting the illegitimate use and distribution of international content in the United States. Activities on behalf of IBCAP include the establishment of a monitoring lab to monitor and detect unauthorized use of IBCAP member content and automated systems to monitor set-top boxes, websites, and other streaming platforms. NAGRA will detect servers providing IBCAP member content without authorization, including both linear feeds and VOD content, and take actions to have that content removed. NAGRA will also provide on-the-ground investigation services and enhanced litigation support tools. Within the next weeks, NAGRA’s investigation services will be focused on identifying retailers selling pirate services, educating them about the risks of selling those pirate services, and collecting evidence for future investigations and lawsuits.

Nagra