For years, Brazil has been facing a major problem in the TV Box market, popularly known as “gatonets”. The use of these unauthorized devices allows access to closed channels and streaming services at a much lower cost or even for free.
To deal with the – obviously illegal – practice, the National Film Agency (Ancine) and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) decided to join forces and create an operation to combat piracy.
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With the advancement of technology, the entertainment industry broke away from conventional television and radio in a startling way. Currently, several types of content are available – in some cases exclusively – on platforms that require a subscription to access them.
However, not all users are willing to pay the amounts available and end up opting for illegality: piracy. Through it, several accesses that require payment end up being released for free or for a lower amount.
In Brazil, for example, the sale of “gatonets” is very common, as millions of illegal transmissions are recorded in the country.
With the gradual growth of clandestine services, Anatel and Ancine decided to act. The agencies signed a cooperation agreement to combat piracy in Brazil and aim to eradicate the use of unauthorized devices with an action plan to identify them. The estimated time for the operation, as disclosed by the agencies, is 24 months.
According to Anatel, there are at least an incredible 5 million active “gatonets” spread across the country. With this significant amount of clandestine devices in circulation, the concern about the safety of users is great.
This is because, although it represents financial relief (even if illegal), the consumption of pirated products is responsible for the vulnerability of its users' data. That is, criminals have easy access to confidential information from piracy consumers, as clandestine products do not follow security protocols.
Even Anatel, through investigations into clandestine handsets, detected a malware responsible for collecting and stealing user data. This makes the operation against piracy extremely necessary, as it aims to protect both content producers and consumers.