A Botswana-based broadcaster is taking South African state-owned signal provider Sentech to court to force it to properly encrypt transmission of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) channels.
eBotswana, a sister company to SA's etv, argues Sentech is not properly securing satellite transmission on its Vivid platform, which is putting the entire Southern African Development Community's (SADC's) broadcasting sector at risk.
The channel, 49% owned by etv, alleges that the majority of the Botswana population is watching pirated SABC channels, resulting in lost revenue for legitimate broadcasters and hampering growth in the sector.
eBotswana argues SABC channels, which should not be available in Botswana, are being picked up through satellite receivers that are able to tap into Sentech's satellite-based Vivid Direct-to-Home platform.
In 2009, Sentech admitted its Vivid offering was vulnerable to being hacked, and said it was making “technical improvements” to improve security.
However, eBotswana argues it has been trying to get Sentech to solve security issues for two years, without any success. The parties will square off in the South Gauteng High Court today over the issue.
Sector killer
Signal piracy, which happens when transmissions are illegally intercepted, is a huge problem in the SADC region.
Last month, deputy communications minister Obed Bapela, speaking at a conference on the issue, said: “Signal piracy has become a scourge, which - if not urgently contained - can wipe out our broadcasting and content industries.”
Pirated goods cost SA as much as R178 billion a year, the equivalent of 10% of the country's gross domestic product, Bapela said. A large part of this loss is signal and content piracy, he added.
Fed up
eBotswana has had enough of its revenue base being eroded and wants the court to force Sentech to properly encrypt SABC signal sent out to satellite viewers through its Vivid platform.
The Gaborone-based free-to-air station argues Sentech has failed to stop “widespread broadcast piracy in Southern Africa,” which is “negatively impacting on Botswana's television industry”.
As the Vivid platform is carried by satellite, its broadcast footprint extends into sub-Saharan Africa.
eBotswana GM Dave Coles says about 70% of the Botswana population is watching pirated SABC channels. This is “seriously damaging growth in the local broadcast, production and advertising industries through the loss of potential advertising revenue.
“We believe that the television industry not only in Botswana, but the entire SADC region, will benefit greatly if the piracy is stopped,” comments Coles.
The entire broadcasting industry is impacted because it cannot earn advertising revenue, as marketers see no point in spending when viewers are seeing advertisements on SABC anyway, says etv head of publicity Vasili Vass. “A lot of multinationals don't see the need to advertise.”
Vass says piracy is a huge problem “across the SADC region”. eBotswana was not able to quantify the scale of the lost income.
Failure to act
eBotswana alleges Sentech has not maintained the encryption system on its Vivid platform, which has led to the piracy. SABC channels are illegally viewed through the use of a satellite receiver commonly referred to as the Philiboa, the broadcaster says.
“Despite repeated requests from eBotswana since 2009 and Sentech's undertakings to Parliament that it would upgrade the encryption by March 2011, it has failed to do so,” claims eBotswana.
Two years ago, Sentech admitted it had problems with encrypting its Vivid platform.
“Historically, the encryption software used in the Vivid decoder protected the geographic integrity of the etv offering service outside of SA's borders. Sentech has now learnt that this encryption software has been compromised and needs to secure the feed.”
At the time, Sentech said it was busy with “technical improvements” to improve the security of the service.
Last March, the signal provider added it “is always vigilant about the security of the service” and it takes hacking of encryption “very seriously”. It said it was updating its conditional access system in a bid to combat hacking.
Sentech and the Department of Communications declined to comment, saying the matter is “sub judice”. However, a statement is expected once the court case has been wrapped up.
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