Several studies show that many illegal streaming actors now rely on relay servers. These pirate CDNs allow them to serve users faster, but also to hide the identity of the owners of the original sites.
Content piracy increasingly relies on professional solutions. This is particularly the case for streaming, which now uses CDNs to broadcast films or series illegally. These "Content Delivery Network" (or content delivery network) are generally used by completely legal sites to shorten their access time by duplicating their content to the nearest user.
It is the specialized site TorrentFreak which reported this February 3 the generalization of this system, especially in Russia. Based on a study by Group-IB, a company expert in cybersecurity, he explains that streaming now accounts for 80% of piracy of movies and 90% of that of series. The torrents are gradually abandoned by the public, although it is mostly through them that the pirated copies of a film or series appear for the first time.
A way to hide the identity of the original servers
As explained by the Hadopi at a press conference on January 22, CDN duplicate the original servers of streaming sites and allow especially to hide them. This makes it impossible to go back to them and their owners.
The operation of CDNs summarized by the Hadopi
If they only serve as relays, these CDNs are however also provided as the original servers. Group-IB has identified one that contains 300,000 files representing ... 5 petabytes of data. The massive aspect of the server testifies to the professionalization of the piracy since the maintenance of such a CDN represents approximately 100,000 dollars (87,400 euros) per month.
A profitable ecosystem
Streaming players are directly integrated with CDNs. The latter then pay the owner of the pirate site who automatically feeds them into illegal content. These suppliers are paid according to the number of views made, about 0.60 dollar (52 euro cents) for 1000 views. To pay, the CDN platforms display advertisements, most often from unsavory websites or online casinos.
In front of this ecosystem of piracy, more and more complex and in perpetual evolution, the Hadopi says itself "disarmed ". It, which can only legally fight against peer-to-peer, remains powerless against these new forms of illegal distribution.