The bootleg DVD store and delivery service known as Nabilnet, a once iconic establishment and household name in Beirut, shut down in August 2021. Like video rental stores before it, what was once a thriving industry now experiences dwindling fortunes. How are people consuming digital media in the absence of affordable options? And how is piracy evolving to deliver digital media to the masses?
The West Asia and North Africa region is one of the least free in terms of internet access and digital media consumption, as illustrated in the map below. While not solely indicative of censorship, it strongly illustrates the various restrictions on the internet, including website bans and internet shutdowns. Banned or censored media can only be consumed illegally, mainly through piracy.
Digital media remains unaffordable for most of the world
Piracy on the internet has always existed in the form of illegally downloading TV shows, games, software, and music. At their full price, all these forms of entertainment or services lie outside the average person’s purchasing power. Most companies look at this as lost or, more accurately, stolen revenue. However, when looking at it critically, you have to wonder what the real cost is, and whether those pirating would even purchase the media at its full price.
Those purchasing bootlegged (“fake”) products will most likely not purchase them at full retail price. Average salaries outside those offered in wealthy GCC nations are insufficient for consumers to afford media products priced at the Global North’s retail prices. Import taxes and shipping fees also significantly increase prices. In WANA, prices would rise even more because there are few distributors and competitors, who would then set higher prices.
Second, the cost of living crisis around the globe has further strangled people’s budgets and increased the prices of all goods and services. This cost of living crisis started with the COVID supply chain issues but has extended due to several macroeconomic issues, including greedflation. Many of the WANA countries’ economies consist of government-sanctioned monopolies and hollowed-out public utilities and services. As a result, average consumers in the region who would have once afforded media at their retail price are no longer able to.
Moving towards the all-digital media consumption
As the entertainment landscape continues to evolve, it’s evident that consumer preferences are shifting significantly. The chart below shows the steep drop in Blu-ray consumption as more streaming services are launched and fewer physical media are produced.
Microsoft’s Xbox is eliminating the physical drive of its next machine. Blu-ray DVDs and players are sold less often than they used to, becoming relegated to high-end consumers, similar to analog record players.
The promise of digital services was lower prices, thanks to eliminating physical production and distribution costs. Netflix, for example, offered unlimited access to a vast library, and Spotify let you listen to countless songs without buying albums.” Instead of lowering costs, these services mostly removed the hassle of physical media while using pricing schemes to attract customers without reducing expenses.
Over the past few years, digital media prices have steadily risen, and last year, for the first time, streaming services became more expensive than cable TV. This shift wasn’t unexpected—it appears to have been the plan all along. In the realm of video game streaming, as well as for services like Netflix and Spotify, initial profits were minimal, with many, like Spotify, operating at a loss until recently. These companies initially lured customers with low prices and attracted creators with generous payouts to dominate the market. Now, with that control, they are leveraging their position to maximize profits.
The way they reach that profitability, if they ever do, is by cutting costs and increasing prices in very predatory ways. The cost-cutting comes with paying creators incredibly little. Spotify notoriously pays pennies per couple of hundred streams of a song. Netflix hardly paid writers and got away with never paying residuals (ongoing royalties) by claiming writers were only temporary developers. They exploit both the consumer and the producer of the media. They are now driving prices so high that there is no cost saving in the Global North, and the prices are becoming unsustainable for the Global Majority.
Digital media ownership
What about buying a digital file from Amazon or Apple? If you read the fine print, the answer is still no. You can’t download and use the file outside of their platform, so if the platform shuts down, you lose access. Plus, the licensing terms make it clear—you don’t actually own the file; you’re just buying access. If there’s a copyright issue or the company removes the media, you lose access. Here are some examples from various Terms of Service:
i. Availability of Purchased Digital Content. Purchased Digital Content will generally continue to be available to you for download or streaming from the Service, as applicable, but may become unavailable due to potential content provider licensing restrictions or for other reasons, and Amazon will not be liable to you if Purchased Digital Content becomes unavailable for further download or streaming.
In certain cases (for example, if Google loses the relevant rights, a service or Content is discontinued, there are critical security issues, or there are breaches of applicable terms or the law), Google may remove from your Device or cease providing you with access to certain Content that you have purchased.
8.16. Access to Purchased Items. Upon our confirmation of your transaction, and subject to the applicable Usage Terms, you may access the PSN Content you ordered through the Account that you used to complete the order. You bear all risk of loss for accessing the content and for any loss of content you have downloaded, including any loss due to a file corruption or hard drive crash. You are solely responsible if you do not choose to download or access the content before it is removed or your license expires, and for the authorized ongoing storage and safekeeping of the content. We are not obligated to provide you with replacement copies for any reason.
A striking example is when TimeWarner recently wiped a large amount of content from its libraries for a tax write-off. This purge included older media, newly produced movies, and TV shows that were finished and awaiting release. In essence, they erased art and entertainment to claim them as a loss on their taxes, rather than allowing them to generate profit.
Content control
If the digital media you own can be easily taken away, what else can providers control? They can alter media without user consent or notification. Recently, the Barbie movie, a non-controversial piece of cinema, was removed or postponed from theaters throughout the summer of 2023 in the WANA region.
Authorities cited the movie’s promotion of “homosexuality and other Western deviancies,” although many have speculated that the inclusion of trans actress Hari Nef and other LGBTQ+ actors was the main reason for the movie’s removal. The movie was eventually released.
In the global north, we already see digital media censorship without any notice. Disney has censored multiple titles on their Disney+ streaming service already, even modifying episodes of the series a few days after release. These changes range from simple modifications to correct mistakes like coloring errors to forcing changes to political jokes on shows like The Simpsons to appeal to a wider audience. The Simpsons had a joke aimed at the Catholic Church censored to just church, making it lose its political meaning.
What is also worrying is the increased coordination between these platforms and regional governments. One example of this trend is Netflix now only streaming versions of Indian films after they have been submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification, “which has increasingly been scrubbing films of political references.” All the major players have already censored content to some degree in the MENA region, including Netflix. Disney plus operates in the region on a separate website by adapting their content and content library according to socially and “culturally sensitive content.”
Netflix even went so far as to cancel an entire program, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, which mixes political commentary with comedic commentary. After an entire episode focused on Saudi Arabia that was highly critical of the country and its current crown prince, the Saudi government officially filed complaints. In India, streaming platforms are self-censoring to appease right-wing governmental figures.
Most tech companies self-regulate to avoid official oversight, and media providers are likely to continue self-censorship in other countries. With these growing issues and increased censorship of art and media, could we be on the brink of a new era of digital piracy?
Why be a pirate?
Piracy is inconvenient, illegal, and data-intensive, so there needs to be a strong incentive to engage in it. The key motivator is an environment that minimizes barriers to digital piracy. However, the wealthy Gulf nations have different challenges than less affluent ones in the region.
While the Gulf has the infrastructure to support pirated media, access depends on government control over digital spaces. Though not always enforced, Gulf governments have the legal power to block piracy and, with VPNs being illegal in most of the region, few loopholes exist.
Other less wealthy nations have very different internet ecosystems from the Gulf. Most of them lack the infrastructure and affordability to support heavy digital consumption.
There are, however, some workarounds. For instance, numerous illegal internet stations and providers have sprung up across Lebanon. While their speed and quality vary, most perform well enough for users. Still, the service is inconsistent, and not all can support reliable internet for pirating or even streaming.
Future pirates
Predicting how piracy will evolve in the digital age is difficult, but three possible trends are emerging: a return to bootleg-style operations, a revival of torrenting, or the rise of new piracy models.
In one scenario, digital bootlegging could emerge where sellers offer pirated content via storage devices in countries with internet access but high costs. This would likely target wealthier individuals or businesses.
Another possibility is personal piracy networks, but these would require ideal conditions like affordable infrastructure and weak legal enforcement. Given the growing size of media files and limited internet capacity, this is less likely for most.
A more speculative future might involve new piracy ecosystems, like offering access to shared cloud storage or streaming services for a fee. Anti-piracy groups are also concerned about CDN leeching, where pirates intercept streaming content undetected.
The future could present a novel and unique media consumption ecosystem in the digital age. On the other hand, it could bring us closer to our near past, embracing more analog technologies or retro-digital tech. We have recently seen many trends of low-fidelity media, such as VHS tapes and vinyl records, that are steeped in nostalgia and take hold of public consciousness. It seems that piracy, driven by the desire to share, will persist in some form.
Image via AFP / JENS BUTTNERdpa-Zentralbilddpa Picture-Alliance