Huge Decrease in Levels of Streaming Piracy Seen in Malaysia

A new study of the online content viewing behavior of Malaysian consumers has found a massive 64% decrease in consumers accessing piracy websites over the past 12 months. The survey, commissioned by AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) and conducted by YouGov, found that 22% of online consumers currently use piracy streaming websites or torrent sites to view pirated content, substantially less than the 61% from a similar survey conducted in August 2019. The YouGov survey also found a 61% reduction in the number of consumers who use an illicit streaming device (ISD) when compared to the August 2019 survey.

More than half (55%) of online consumers had noticed that a piracy service had been blocked by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA). This would appear to have had an impact on consumer attitudes towards piracy, with 49% stating that they no longer accessed piracy services and 40% stating that they now rarely accessed piracy services as a result of not being able to access blocked piracy sites. 11% of consumers said it made no difference to their viewing habits.

The continual site blocking has had an impact on consumers viewing habits who are now more likely to access legal content services. 20% of consumers who said they were aware of the government blocking piracy websites and illicit application domains, have since subscribed to a paid streaming service; 15% said they now spend more time viewing free (AVOD) local streaming services; and 65% now predominantly watch free (AVOD) international streaming services.

When asked about the negative consequences of online piracy, consumers placed funding crime groups (57%), loss of jobs in the creative industry (52%) and malware risks (42%) as their top three concerns.

(This content is surmised from a press release)