Tech-Savvy Pirates (Not That Kind) Are Reportedly Costing Streaming Services $30 Billion A Year

Despite the best efforts of Hollywood, including the formation of a task force in 2018 to crack down on illegal downloads, piracy continues to be a massive thorn in the side of streamers. According to a new report, Disney+, Paramount+, and Peacock are particularly feeling the effects as the burgeoning platforms have been hit by an estimated $30 billion loss in profits due to rampant pirating of TV shows and movies.

While the advent of streaming has led to increased customer convenience thanks to a plethora of content being available at the push of a button, it’s also been a boon for pirate sites who can quickly rip whole series and movies in a matter of seconds and rake in insanely high profit margins from advertising and subscriptions. One lucrative pirate was pulling in millions before finally being snatched up by the Feds.

Via Bloomberg:

Last year, Philadelphian Bill Omar Carrasquillo—who broadcast his lavish lifestyle to about 800,000 followers on YouTube and who the FBI said ran one of the most “brazen and successful” TV piracy schemes ever prosecuted by federal officials—was ordered to forfeit $30 million in assets including a dozen properties, a Lamborghini and $6 million in cash. At its peak, the illicit streaming business GearsTV had 100,000 subscribers and brought in about $1.5 million in monthly sales. In March 2023, Carrasquillo was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

Despite the best efforts of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and the FBI, piracy continues to run rampant thanks to the involvement of “Russian crime rings” who have allegedly paid patrons to sneak camcorders into movie screenings in addition to ripping streaming sites.

“The people who are stealing our movies and our television shows and operating piracy sites are not mom and pop operations,” MPA CEO Charles Rivkin told Bloomberg. “This is organized crime.”