Hacking is becoming more democratic all over the planet, but five nations stand out a little more than the others.
Hacking has become a commonplace act. According to a study conducted by the analysis company MUSO, the number of visits to pirate sites has increased by 20% compared to the same period last year. In its report, the company says the data takes into account the film, television, music, software, and publishing sectors.
Despite the proliferation of measures, to say that piracy is on the rise is an understatement. Indeed, the survey reveals that pirate sites have been visited more than 140 billion times worldwide. Among the most affected sectors, television tops the list with more than 46% of visits.
The plague of streaming
Among these 140 billion visits, a top 5 is emerging. Accustomed to gold medals at the Olympics, the United States would probably have done without this one. Americans accumulate more than 15 billion visits alone. This is almost twice as much as their runner-up, that is to say Russia and its 8 billion visits. India (7.9 billion), China (4.7 billion) and…France (4.5 billion) complete the picture.
During its research, MUSO also separated hacks into two categories: downloads and streaming. An important separation since it makes it possible to better understand why television comes first in visits to pirate sites. Thus, more than 95% of the sites visited for the audiovisual sector are illegal streaming platforms.
Belgium keeps pace
If Belgium does not fit into the MUSO ranking, the country is not exempt from any reproach. According to another study, from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) this time, piracy is still rooted in Belgian habits.
To be more precise, the European office indicates that the category of 15-24 year olds is on average quicker to visit pirate sites compared to other European countries. Nearly 30% of them admitted to having visited pirate sites in the last twelve months, compared to 21% in the rest of Europe.
Perhaps the real problem stems from the lack of information around what is legal and what is not. As a reminder, in Belgium, an illegal download means violating the copyright of a work without the agreement or the remuneration of the author in question.
In other words, it’s about making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work. Under Belgian law, it is a crime punishable by a fine ranging from 500 euros to 500,000 euros accompanied by a prison sentence of three months to three years. To the extent that illegal streaming also violates this law, it is punished in the same way.
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