ITV

Tag: Fairplay

  • Betting racket whacked for Rs 307 crore as ED strikes in Dubai

    Betting racket whacked for Rs 307 crore as ED strikes in Dubai

    NEW DELHI: India’s financial crimes enforcers have seized Dubai property and domestic bank deposits worth Rs 307 crore in a crackdown on an online betting operation centred around the Fairplay platform, according to a PTI report. 

    The Enforcement Directorate froze land, villas and flats in the Gulf emirate alongside Indian bank accounts under anti-money laundering laws, the agency said on Monday. The haul represents one of the largest asset seizures in India’s escalating war against illegal online gambling.

    The probe stems from a complaint filed by Viacom18 Media with Mumbai Police’s cyber wing, alleging the betting platform had inflicted revenue losses exceeding Rs 100 crore through violations of information technology and copyright laws.

    Investigators subsequently bundled together multiple cases against Fairplay and its associates for illegal online betting operations. The web of connected entities suggests a sophisticated money-laundering network spanning domestic and international jurisdictions.

    The seizures underscore how Indian authorities are pursuing betting operators’ offshore assets with increasing vigour. Dubai has emerged as a favoured destination for parking proceeds from India’s booming but largely illegal online gambling sector.

    The Fairplay case highlights the complex interplay between broadcasting rights violations and betting operations, with platforms allegedly using pirated content to drive traffic to gambling sites.
    India’s regulatory crackdown on online betting has intensified as authorities grapple with the sector’s explosive growth and its links to money laundering and tax evasion.

  • Irdeto tightens the screws on sports pirates with high-frequency key rotation

    Irdeto tightens the screws on sports pirates with high-frequency key rotation

    AMSTERDAM:  Live sport is the crown jewel of streaming — and the favourite target of pirates. The digital-security specialist Irdeto has launched a new feature for its cloud-based multi-DRM platform, Irdeto Control, designed to make life harder for stream hijackers and easier for broadcasters under pressure from rights holders.

    The enhancement centres on high-frequency key rotation: a technique that shrinks the exposure window for encryption keys, forcing frequent re-authentication. Each cycle destabilises pirate streams by disrupting the stolen keys they rely on, making common tricks such as key extraction and CDN leeching far less effective. The result, says Irdeto, is the gradual degradation of illegal feeds — a frustrating user experience that pushes fans back towards legitimate platforms.

    Irdeto Control already delivers more than 15 billion DRM transactions monthly, protecting content for over 200m users. It supports Widevine, FairPlay and PlayReady, while layering on piracy countermeasures such as concurrency management, vulnerable-device blocking, emulator detection and geo/VPN enforcement. The new key-rotation capability slots into existing multi-DRM workflows without requiring changes to players or packagers — a crucial point for operators wary of integration headaches.

    “Piracy in live sports continues to evolve rapidly, and rights holders are demanding tougher security standards that don’t hinder operational efficiency,” said  Irdeto chief operating officer for video entertainment Andrew Bunten. “This is a major step forward in protecting the value of live content.”

    The economics of piracy are sobering: for broadcasters, unauthorised streaming of premium leagues erodes subscription revenues; for rights holders, it undermines billion-dollar licensing deals. Regulators, too, have begun pressing platforms to prove they can safeguard live streams against theft.

    Irdeto, which has long positioned itself at the intersection of video platforms and security, hopes its latest upgrade will strengthen its pitch to both camps. By degrading pirate feeds rather than merely chasing them offline, it aims to tilt the balance in favour of legal distribution.

    The announcement comes ahead of IBC 2025 in Amsterdam, where Irdeto will showcase its full suite of video-protection tools. In a marketplace where streaming platforms compete as much on content security as on user experience, the company is betting that tougher defences can help keep live sport the revenue engine it has always been.

  • Viacom18 launches marketing blitz to build fandom for Abu Dhabi T10

    Viacom18 launches marketing blitz to build fandom for Abu Dhabi T10

    Mumbai: Viacom18 will begin airing the Abu Dhabi T10 league on 19 November starting at 7 p.m. The network has started a marketing blitz to build a fandom for the league amongst cricketing fans in India. The Abu Dhabi T10 league is co-presented by Dream11 and has onboarded Fairplay as a digital sponsor on Voot.

    “The Abu Dhabi T10 tournament has emerged as one of the most entertaining spectacle events in the sporting calendar since its launch,” Viacom18 head of marketing and digital – Hindi mass entertainment Sapangeet Rajwant. “Our aim will be to enhance the overall experience of viewers and reach out to the mass, cricket-crazy audience in India to increase the fan base and popularise the event in the country.”

    Abu Dhabi T10 league will premiere from 7 p.m on 19 November, live on Colors Cineplex, Rishtey Cineplex, and Voot. The six teams that will be a part of this series represent 20 nations and include cricketing legends like Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, David Wiese, Faf Du Plessis, Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Wahab Riaz, Imran Tahir and many more.

    Viacom18 has initiated a 360-degree mix of marketing initiatives starting from 15 November to build up the excitement for the tournament. The network is driving communications on TV for the league across 50 channels in the movies, music, regional GECs, and news genre along with a promotional plan for cable across Maharashtra and Gujarat markets as well as collaboration with several DTH providers. Along with OOH hoardings across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai markets, there is also a robust print ad plan underway.

    Moreover, the network is driving instream inventory and interstitial ads across social media, gaming apps, and short video platforms and placing GDN banners on cricket-focussed websites. While on radio, RJ mentions, spots, and score updates have been planned with leading stations across Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Nashik, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Rajkot markets.

    Leveraging the digital outreach, carousel ads and push notifications will be driven across Jio platforms. On social media, push across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube are targeted towards reaching out to cricket and sports fans, as well as engagement, which will be driven through hashtag challenges. Digital impact amplification will also be done through channels/platforms with Google products and a host of cricket websites.