Online piracy 'far worse than anyone could've imagined'

THE Walking Dead season 8 is well underway, and a legendary producer on the show has spoken out about the growing threat from illegal Kodi add-ons.

Kodi fans that use add-ons to illegally stream The Walking Dead online have caught the attention of a legendary Hollywood producer.

The Kodi surge continues without any sign of stopping, as users continue to ditch paid TV services for the online player.

Research has suggested Kodi - which offers access to thousands of channels - is being used in more than five million UK homes.

Kodi software is not illegal, but developers can produce third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated and illegal content.

The illegal add-ons are being targeted by ISP's, government agencies, broadcasters and rights holders.

And the rise of illegal Kodi add-ons has not gone unnoticed in Hollywood, with one legendary producer speaking out on the issue.

Gale Anne Hurd is one of the producers on The Walking Dead and has produced some of Tinseltown’s most iconic films.

Hurd has been a producer on timeless movies such as Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The Walking Dead producer had not heard about fully loaded Kodi boxes, which have illegal add-ons installed on them, until a few months ago.

Anti-piracy activists showed her a demonstration and the industry veteran was stunned by how easy it is to access illegal copies of movies and TV show.

Speaking to the LA Times, she said: “It was far worse than anyone could've imagined, even me.

“I always thought piracy would be a step behind in terms of technology. And I was shocked.”

It’s not the first time that Hurd has spoken out about the effects of online piracy in the movie and TV industry.

Back in 2013 she issued a rebuke against those in her industry who said online piracy had been beneficial in promoting certain TV shows.

She said: “There’s a mistaken belief by many of my peers that piracy is somehow good, that viewers will develop a habit to pay for it.

“I’m not sure they really understand other than anecdotal evidence that their ratings go up that the people who pirate are not then going to choose legal downloads or legal viewing in the future.”

While last year Hurd penned an article for USA Today headlined ‘stop piracy apocalypse’.

In the piece she wrote: “TV distributors use complex security systems to ensure that the creative content on their networks, set-top boxes and apps all comply with the appropriate creative licenses and restrictions.

“In contrast, search engines such as Google and digital video platforms such as YouTube routinely show — and prioritise — stolen content in search results.”

The news comes after new research looked at how often the premiere of The Walking Dead season 8 was illegally downloaded after its air date in October.

And the season 8 opener ‘Mercy’, which was also the 100th episode of The Walking Dead, saw a huge drop in the number of illegal downloads.

Comparing the season 8 premiere with the season 7 opener, there was a staggering 42 per cent drop, according to piracy-tracking firm Tecxipio.

The drop in illegal The Walking Dead downloads could be attribute to a number of factors.

Last year AMC started adding watermarks to unaired episodes on their shows.

The digital watermarks are used to help trace the source of pirated copies that appeared online.

Being able to trace a leak to the source was meant to deter people from leaking episodes of AMC shows before their air date.

Another way The Walking Dead is trying to tackle piracy is Fox Networks Group airs the show less than 24 hours after it debuts in the States on AMC in 125 countries.

So, AMC’s and Fox’s tact of tackling online piracy could be having its desired outcome.

The other possibility is that the sharp fall in illegal downloads potentially reflects a drop in popularity for The Walking Dead.

The drop in illegal downloads comes as viewing figures in the US also experienced a sharp fall for the season 8 premiere.

Viewing figures were down 35 per cent year-on-year in the States for the first episode of The Walking Dead season 8.