Astro, Premier League step up anti-piracy efforts in Malaysia

The Premier League continues to work in collaboration with local broadcast partner Astro to raise awareness of the dangers of illegal streaming in Malaysia, launching its latest Boot Out Piracy campaign on Monday.

Returning for a third year in Malaysia, the latest campaign features Premier League stars including Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan, Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy and Leeds United’s Jack Harrison.

They appear in a series of videos which will feature across broadcast and digital channels to raise awareness of the security risks of viewing Premier League football on illegal websites and devices, as well as the disrupted viewing experience presented by illegal streaming.

Fans who watch on unauthorised websites or streaming devices could potentially be at risk of their bank accounts being hacked, identity theft, or their devices being locked for ransom.

Their viewing experience is also likely to be disrupted by sub-optimal video quality, delays and numerous pop-up ads.

"As the official broadcaster of the Premier League in Malaysia, Astro offers the best and the most premium viewing experience for all 380 matches in HD and selected matches in 4K UHD as well as money-can’t-buy-experiences," said Nicholas John, Astro's Head of Sports.

"Piracy deeply hurts our ability to keep serving sports fans and commercial enterprises. We are committed in working closely with the authorities, industry players and content partners in battling piracy.

"We are pleased to collaborate with the Premier League in the Boot Out Piracy campaign in educating sports fans of the dangers of illegal streaming, and we would like to urge all Malaysians and commercial enterprises to only watch live sports on legal and high-quality platforms.

"We welcome the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022, which sees the introduction of new streaming and linking-related offences including a law against those providing or sharing access to an online location containing pirated works. Anyone found guilty can be fined up to RM200,000, be imprisoned up to 20 years, or both."

In the past few years, legal action were successfully taken against pirate operations, resulting in the blocking of over 70 pirate website domains as well as criminally prosecuting an illegal streaming device seller for the first time in Malaysia.

In February 2021, a woman in Selangor was fined RM30,000 after pleading guilty to owning and selling TV boxes that allowed users to acess Astro channels illegally.

She was the first individual to be sentenced under Section 232 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.