The digital revolution has fundamentally transformed the global creative economy. High-speed broadband, smartphones, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and streaming platforms have reduced barriers to content production and distribution. A filmmaker in Addis Ababa can now distribute work globally, and a musician can monetize audiences beyond national borders. However, the same infrastructure has accelerated copyright infringement and online piracy. Digital files can be duplicated infinitely at minimal cost, encrypted messaging platforms facilitate private redistribution, and illegal IPTV services rebroadcast premium content in real time.

The economic consequences are substantial. The Global Innovation Policy Center (U.S. Chamber of Commerce) estimates that digital video piracy costs the U.S. economy at least $29.2 billion annually (Source: https://www.theglobalipcenter.com/report/digital-video-piracy/). Meanwhile, piracy analytics firm MUSO reports more than 130 billion annual visits to piracy websites globally (Source: https://www.muso.com/magazine/global-piracy-statistics).

From an industry enforcement perspective, cybersecurity company Irdeto has documented the rapid expansion of commercial-scale piracy networks, particularly illegal IPTV syndicates that rebroadcast premium live sports and entertainment content across borders (Source: https://irdeto.com/blog/piracy-report). These operations are often organized, subscription-based criminal enterprises generating significant illicit revenue.

Across Africa, MultiChoice has repeatedly warned that piracy threatens the sustainability of local content production and sports broadcasting. The company has highlighted increasing losses from illegal set-top boxes, signal theft, and unauthorized streaming services, which undermine investments in African storytelling and job creation across the creative value chain (Source: https://www.multichoice.com/media-centre/).

Yet technology is not solely destructive. Platforms such as YouTube deploy AI-driven systems like Content ID, where over 90% of copyright claims are detected automatically (Source: https://transparencyreport.google.com/youtube-copyright). Technology therefore operates as a double-edged sword, expanding infringement while simultaneously enabling scalable enforcement.

For Africa and Ethiopia, where connectivity is expanding rapidly, the central challenge is to transform this tension into a digital opportunity.

Lessons Learned for Africa

Africa’s internet penetration has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the International Telecommunication Union (Source: https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/). As digital access expands, so does exposure to piracy. However, this same connectivity can fuel creative entrepreneurship, digital employment, and investment if properly governed.

MultiChoice’s anti-piracy campaigns across several African countries illustrate both the scale of the problem and the complexity of enforcement. The company has reported coordinated crackdowns on piracy syndicates in partnership with law enforcement agencies, yet new mirror sites and illegal streaming networks often reappear within days. This highlights a structural challenge: piracy ecosystems adapt rapidly to enforcement measures, requiring continuous technological upgrades and cross-border cooperation.

Legal Modernization Enables a Thriving Creator Economy

Copyright reform is not only about preventing piracy; it is about creating trust in the system. The World Intellectual Property Organization emphasizes that clear and enforceable copyright systems encourage innovation, foreign investment, and creative sector growth (Source: https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/).

Across Africa, a new “prosumer” or creator economy is emerging. Independent filmmakers, YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, and digital journalists are producing and monetizing content online. When copyright protections are weak, these creators face unauthorized copying, revenue leakage, and diminished incentive to invest in quality production. Conversely, when laws are modern, enforceable, and digitally aligned, new creators are more willing to enter the market, investors gain confidence, and sustainable digital businesses emerge.

Irdeto’s global piracy threat analyses indicate that weak regulatory and enforcement environments correlate with higher levels of organized piracy activity, particularly in emerging digital markets (Source: https://irdeto.com/blog/piracy-report). In Ethiopia, strengthening copyright is therefore not simply about protecting mainstream broadcasters, it is about unlocking youth-driven digital entrepreneurship and signaling to investors that the creative sector is secure.

Affordable Access and the Role of Mobile Money

Global experience shows that piracy declines when legal alternatives are affordable and convenient. However, affordability must reflect local economic realities. In many African markets, traditional monthly subscription models may exclude significant portions of the population.

Mobile money platforms such as Telebirr and M-Pesa have transformed financial access by enabling micro-transactions and low-cost digital payments. These platforms make it possible to implement daily or weekly content subscriptions, pay-per-view access, micro-payments for individual songs or articles, and even direct creator tipping systems. By lowering payment friction and aligning pricing with income patterns, mobile money infrastructure becomes a powerful antipiracy tool. It reduces reliance on unauthorized sources by making legal access simpler and more flexible.

For companies like MultiChoice ( a Canal+ company), flexible pricing models and mobile-integrated payment solutions have become part of a broader antipiracy strategy, recognizing that convenience and affordability can compete directly with illegal alternatives.

Monetization Innovation - The Strategic Role of Ad-Supported Models

In high growth but price-sensitive markets, subscription only models may not be sufficient. Ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) models offer an alternative monetization pathway. Under AVOD systems, users access content free of direct charge while revenue is generated through advertising.

This approach expands legal access without imposing financial barriers, reducing incentives to seek pirated alternatives. It also supports the growth of local advertising markets and enables broad audience monetization. For Ethiopia and many African markets, hybrid models combining subscription (SVOD), ad-supported (AVOD), and mobile micropayments may represent the most sustainable long-term strategy. Monetization innovation thus becomes part of the antipiracy strategy rather than a separate commercial conversation.

Using Technology to Fight Technology

Piracy networks are technologically sophisticated, using mirror domains, offshore hosting, and encrypted communications. Manual enforcement is insufficient. AI-based monitoring systems and forensic watermarking technologies are increasingly necessary to protect premium content such as live sports and film releases.

Irdeto has emphasized the growing use of real-time monitoring and digital watermarking to trace illegal redistribution of live sports streams, particularly in high value events (Source: https://irdeto.com/blog/piracy-report). Live sports piracy remains one of the most financially damaging forms of infringement because it directly affects subscription retention and advertising revenue.

YouTube’s automated copyright detection demonstrates how scale can be managed through algorithmic systems (Source: https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/how-content-id-works/). African broadcasters and digital platforms must adopt similar technological tools, collaborate with internet service providers to block repeat infringers, and establish digital monitoring partnerships between regulators and industry actors. Digital piracy demands digital enforcement capacity.

Regional Cooperation and Continental Alignment

Piracy operates across borders, exploiting jurisdictional fragmentation. Servers may be hosted outside national territories while targeting local consumers.

The African Union Digital Transformation Strategy (2020–2030) calls for harmonized digital governance frameworks across member states regional cooperation can strengthen intellectual property enforcement, enable coordinated domain blocking, and facilitate intelligence sharing. Continental alignment enhances Africa’s digital sovereignty and reduces regulatory loopholes. (Source: https://au.int/en/documents/20200518/digital-transformation-strategy-africa-2020-2030).

MultiChoice’s cross border enforcement experience shows that isolated national action is insufficient; piracy syndicates exploiting regulatory gaps between countries. Coordinated continental action is therefore essential.

Ethiopia’s Technological Advancement: Growth, Opportunity, and Risk

Ethiopia’s telecom liberalization and infrastructure investments have accelerated digital adoption. According to DataReportal, Ethiopia had approximately 29.5 million internet users by 2025, representing about 21.7% of the population, alongside over 93 million mobile connections (Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2026-ethiopia). The GSMA projects Ethiopia’s digital economy could contribute ETB 1.3 trillion to GDP by 2028.

As connectivity expands, access to pirated content becomes easier, particularly via mobile networks. Local filmmakers, musicians, journalists, and broadcasters face heightened risks of unauthorized redistribution. Industry experience across Africa shows that once piracy ecosystems become entrenched, reversing consumer behavior becomes significantly more costly and complex.

At the same time, Ethiopia’s digital progress creates major opportunities. Mobile money platforms such as Telebirr enable micro-subscriptions and creator monetization. Expanding broadband allows local OTT platforms to scale distribution. Growth in digital advertising supports AVOD models. The same technological expansion that increases piracy risk also builds the infrastructure needed for sustainable digital monetization. The determining factor is governance, not connectivity itself.

Technology amplifies systems rather than determining outcomes. For Africa and Ethiopia, digital expansion presents both heightened piracy risk and unprecedented economic opportunity.

When modern copyright laws protect creators, mobile money enables flexible payments, ad-supported models broaden access, AI strengthens enforcement, industry actors deploy advanced anti-piracy systems, and regional cooperation closes regulatory gaps, piracy can be transformed from a structural threat into a catalyst for innovation.

The future of Africa’s digital economy will not be defined by how fast connectivity grows, but by how strategically connectivity is governed, monetized, and protected.

Editors' Note: The article is written by Demeke Kebede

art and culture

When Technology Becomes Both Weapon and Shield