Gambling and porn highlighted as main supports for Indonesian pirate sites

Staff writer
27 Jan 2015
00:00

New research released at CASBAA’s Indonesia in View 2015 conference explored funding links between the banned gambling and pornography industries, and the online piracy websites they use to attract young viewers

Several issues pertinent to the growth of Indonesia’s TV industry were discussed at CASBAA’s in View 2015 conference held in Indonesia, chief of which concerned the funding of pirate websites in the country.

Panelists were unanimous in agreeing that one of the greatest threats to healthy development of the television industry was the rapid growth of online piracy, alongside prevalence of more “traditional” cable piracy in Indonesia’s provinces.

During a panel discussion titled, “Following the Money: Who is profiting from the growth of online piracy in Indonesia”, speakers considered a 2014 research study by a professor at Massey University in Auckland which found that 84% of advertisements on pirate websites in Indonesia are for “high risk” services, including gambling, sexual services, financial scams, and malware.

“The research results were surprising,” said CASBAA’s chief policy officer John Medeiros. “Indonesia is a socially conservative country, and we did not expect to find such a preponderance of socially unacceptable services funding content piracy to use as a lure to attract Indonesian viewers.” He noted that the largest share of the ads was from gambling websites, many based offshore, clearly targeting Indonesia as a vulnerable market.

Joe Welch, senior vice president of government relations for 21st Century Fox, noted that in addition to gambling and other “high risk” ads, several “mainstream” advertisers in Indonesia are helping finance piracy by placing ads on pirate websites. “The brand advertisers may also be victims in this process,” he said. “They may not want their brands associated with illegal activities, but they may be unaware of how the online advertising industry is placing their ads.” He urged government, advertisers, consumer groups and the technology sector to look at overseas examples and strongly consider adopting global best practices.

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