Multichoice Kenya has noted that piracy in the country is killing the local entertainment industry.
Multichoice Kenya's managing director (MD), Nzola Miranda, said that the firm is losing a lot through unscrupulous links that provide exclusive contents.
Further, he noted that the vice must be stamped out to salvage the sector.
“Streaming piracy is growing. We shut down hundreds of links. On weekends with English Premier League matches we shut down links of illegal piracy. You will be very shocked at what that translates to. The size is enormous, “Miranda said.
In a recently published analysis, Partners Against Piracy (PAP), a multi-sectoral organization created to combat digital piracy, projected that online piracy causes the country's creative economy to suffer gross losses of around Kes 92 billion a year, or Kes 252 million every day.
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For instance, experts claim that every year, piracy costs the music sector Kes 15 billion and TV stations Kes 8 billion.
According to the survey, hundreds of Kenyans use illegal streaming websites to acquire pirated content and watch live sports during English Premier League (EPL) events.
This includes cable piracy, a practice known as "sambaza" in Kenya, which is the distribution of digital content after interfering with a pay TV cable box.
However, the company has exuded confidence that it is racing against time to find better ways of mitigating piracy, a factor they say could easily face out creatives in the industry.
“As piracy evolves, technology to fight piracy evolves. We are at the forefront. We have to win this fight,” added Nzola.
