<ul><li>Media platform Disney+Hotstar filed a first information report (FIR) at Bengaluru cyber cell against a few digital platforms indulging in piracy this week.</li><li>Disney+Hotstar is the latest victim in a long list of streaming platforms that have lost their revenues to piracy.</li><li>Last year, Zee Entertainment Enterprises had filed an official complaint, pertaining to the pirated version of the film ‘Radhe’ being circulated across messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Telegram.</li></ul>There is something common between Rajamouli’s RRR, Yash starrer KGF: Chapter 2 and Salman Khan’s Radhe. They’re not just superhit movies, they were all pirated way ahead of their release. The latest victim of this cybercrime is Disney+Hotstar. It has filed an FIR <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/disney-star-lodges-fir-against-websites-app-in-fight-against-piracy-122052900405_1.html">complaint </a>against TamilMV, TamilBlasters, Tamilrockers, and application PikaShow TV for carrying leaked content on their platform. “The cumulative traffic on these platforms is estimated at 62 million,” Santosh Ram, station house officer, cybercell, Bengaluru Police told <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/disney-star-lodges-fir-against-websites-app-in-fight-against-piracy-122052900405_1.html">Business Standard</a>. It joins the long list of complaints and cases against piracy. Star, along with Viacom 18 Media Private, had also filed <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/rogue-mobile-app-developer-held-in-content-piracy-case/articleshow/91801209.cms">a case against</a> android software aggregator Thop TV right before the ICC World Test Championship Final. <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/rogue-mobile-app-developer-held-in-content-piracy-case/articleshow/91801209.cms">Thop TV</a> is a rogue app that illegally provides access to films, shows and live sports on TV, as well as video-on-demand content, without consent from its producers. Its CEO was arrested last month in April 2022. After Radhe was leaked before its release on OTT platforms, Zee Entertainment Enterprises filed an FIR against it at the cyber branch. The movie was circulated across messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Telegram. Piracy, however, is not new to the industry. Since the dawn of professional film production, pirates have been looking for ways to make a few quick extra bucks. After the advent of the internet and social media, it has become easier to download, mirror and circulate content. How vast is the sea of pirates? OTT players have been paying millions to movie producers for exclusive rights – and without direct earnings from the releases, they stand to lose future subscribers. A <a href="https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/indian-ott-market-to-touch-13-15-bn-in-10-years-deloitte-11645515343481.html">report </a>by Deloitte India released earlier this year estimates that OTT platforms may record 20% growth to touch $13 billion–$15 billion over the next decade. However, these numbers could grow at a faster rate if piracy is out of the picture. According to a <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/as-digital-piracy-rises-amid-pandemic-original-content-creators-losing-money-ey/article34743362.ece">report </a>by Digital TV Research, the loss of revenue for OTT players on account of piracy in India is expected to hit $3.08 billion by 2022. India is expected to become one of the largest regions for online piracy this year, said Digital TV Research’s report. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#a2c4c9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Title: Top five countries to lose their revenues to online piracy in 2022 (in $ millions) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ranking </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Country </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Estimated losses in 2022 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">USA </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$11,583 mn </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">China </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$9,778 mn </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">India </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$3,078 mn </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brazil </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$2,584 mn </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mexico </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-right:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 1.5pt;vertical-align:top;background-color:#d0e0e3;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$1,576 mn </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Digital TV Research The TV and film industries support millions of jobs, from set designers, makeup artists, and musicians to producers and directors — and piracy is eating out of their pockets. As per a <a href="https://www.akamai.com/site/en/documents/white-paper/protecting-the-bank-of-ott-whitepaper.pdf">report </a>by Akamai Technologies, a cybersecurity and cloud service company, Indian pirated websites saw 6.5 billion visits in 2021 and the country is ranked third in the world in accessing piracy websites. India has also earned the dubious distinction of ranking first in music piracy. Fine and punishment for piracy in India Piracy is considered a criminal act across the world. In India, as per the Cinematograph Act of 2019, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-year-jail-for-viewing-pirated-films-online/articleshow/53818024.cms">offenders </a>could attract a three-year prison term and a fine of up to ₹3 lakh for viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating an illicit copy of copyrighted content. Content released on OTT platforms or television is protected by copyright. If the content is downloaded without the producer’s consent and circulated, it is a violation of the copyright act of 1957. If an FIR is registered against the offender, the police officer is not required to obtain a warrant (or permission from the court). They can seize the offender’s property (computer or laptop).

Indian OTTs might lose $3 bn to piracy this year as leaked content sites see 62 mn footfalls

<ul><li>Interesting business ideas have cropped up around OTT password sharing in India.</li><li>A verified source told Business Insider that he sells OTT subscriptions at half rates.</li><li>One such startup idea was also floated at an event organized by the Delhi — Business Blasters — named as ‘OTT Hub’.</li></ul>Netflix kickstarted a dangerous experiment to charge people who share passwords. While most subscribers are livid, in India sharing passwords has always been a way of life. In addition to families — undivided Indian families with chacha, bua and ‘friends who are like family’ — OTT passwords travel the length and breadth of bloodlines and beyond. But that’s not even half the story of how OTT passwords are ‘used’ in India. Interesting business models have cropped up around it. One such Delhi- based software engineer owns a ‘business’ that sells OTT subscriptions at half rates — but to a close network of people. Business Insider India has independently verified the veracity of this service. He sells Netflix’s basic one-month subscription at ₹80, while its market price is at ₹199 per month. This account which is shared by around 5-10 people, leaves little room for the half-price buyers to share it further. “We buy multiple subscriptions from another seller and sell them to different people at minimum rates. Everybody watches at different times during the day, hence, it doesn’t create any problems,” the seller told Business Insider India, on the condition of anonymity. He also added that there are hundreds of ‘resellers’ who are selling OTT subscriptions at minimum rates — a key factor which is disallowing large OTT players to discover the depth of the market. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="91919516" title="Netflix's plan to charge people for sharing passwords is already a mess before it's even begun, report suggests" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> While <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/disney-star-is-the-latest-victim-of-online-piracy-which-is-expected-to-touch-3-billion-this-year-in-india/articleshow/91912088.cms">piracy is illegal</a> and can even attract a prison sentence, jugaad business ideas such as this tread the grey area without a law that bans people from sharing passwords around. A lot of individuals also ‘re-sell’ OTT subscriptions on Telegram and Instagram as well — making content available at a variety of rates. <div type="image" title="Sellers on Instagram" msid="91942369" hostid="261"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Many OTTs - and a hub to bring them all together" comment="subhead" text="Many OTTs - and a hub to bring them all together">Many OTTs - and a hub to bring them all together</cmsannotation> Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Hotstar, Zee5, Voot and SonyLiv are some of the most popular OTT platforms in India. But they are not the only ones. In fact, a large number of regional OTTs from Sun and other broadcasters and content creators have entered the market with niche offerings. Even Prime Video launched a service called Prime Video Channels that bundles eight OTTs like ShortsTV, ErosNow and more. This indicates that there is a need for an aggregator-like platform to cater to the varied interests of Indian users. One such startup idea was also floated at an event organized by the Delhi government — Business Blasters — which was held in the month of March. A group of 4-5 students of Std. XII presented an idea named ‘OTT Hub’. Their startup plans to give out OTT subscriptions to people on an hourly basis, at affordable rates of ₹5 per hour — for people who want to watch only a movie or two. They have claimed to have already kickstarted this service during the presentation. <img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/OiUDJeMXJCCD2WhuVpBBMsqaftH-IHjsKCG_HuVV6mm6iRWUKD-oli5o7F6Aeh9vNAdhobUQZ45B7qawWyQTeh-BKePCdXoeqM2n2JRZAhZfW99o-oqTl0vBGqnVehDDrqoOLVNDyXrVdKDC9w" /> “Our team is providing OTT platforms for users on a rental basis who have not been able to buy the subscription of the OTT platforms,” said Nikhil and Roshan who are a part of the team. They had invested over ₹3,000, and earned a profit of ₹4,000 in March itself. “Our plan is to expand our business and customer base and tie up with more OTT platforms. For this, we require an investment of ₹20,000,” the team member added. The fact that these youngsters found willing consumers, shows that Indians prefer multiple OTT subscriptions across languages and genres. It could also be one of the reasons why few Indians would stick to one OTT and also keep its usage exclusive. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/meta-owned-whatsapp-takes-down-over-16-6-lakh-bad-accounts-within-india-in-april/articleshow/91941917.cms">Meta-owned WhatsApp takes down over 16.6 lakh bad accounts within India in April</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/vodafone-idea-wants-to-triple-the-money-it-makes-from-its-users-but-it-will-take-more-than-hope-and-prayers-to-achieve-it/articleshow/91941634.cms">Vodafone Idea wants to triple the money it makes from its users, but it will take more than hope and prayers to achieve it</a>

India has jugaad businesses & startup ideas that bank on sharing passwords of Netflix, Prime Video and other OTTs

<ul><li>The streaming giant <keyword id="128682" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="netflix" source="Orion">Netflix</keyword> announced last week that it will start charging extra for users outside their households as a way to prevent password sharing.</li><li>Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had recently said the company was “frustrated” that it couldn’t get subscriber growth momentum going in India.</li><li>So if Netflix were to crack down on password sharing in a price-sensitive market such as India, it could lose its subscriber base to other platforms, experts say.</li></ul>In India, your Netflix account isn’t just yours. Well, mostly. It is a collective account of your friends, their friends and even their ex-partners who are not in touch with them anymore. One person pays for the subscription and three to five other freeloaders mooch off of it; a new-age bond that transcends across religion, age and geography. <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sPGuxpettzcniAur6Mtv-bKhCN2NyaRgOoKlL-BLz1Ej3A8IfYnroWzepHb2iFxE5L0SAfdmuwx3pA4slld8XyJxLrc2b5rnvNNSncVISDPSgSn5ut277n1xIURNv6HRfPYzMC6f" style="" /> So, when streaming giant Netflix made an announcement that it wants its users to stop sharing passwords with their friends and family — an update that is currently live across Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru — it riled up many internet users. Shortly after, a meme fest sparked up. <div type="twitter" handle="Shweta_baranwal" handlename="Shweta Baranwal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1458726529173577729/rtylniVq_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="0" status="Looks like it's time to giveup few friendships #netflixpassword" createdat="1647604581000" id="1504788798051614727"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="fine_as_wine1" handlename="Mekia ♊" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1501471608233414657/P8aqqFwF_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="0" status="Went up on the price now trying to dictate people sharing their passwords all without even adding new content 🙄 Car… https://t.co/fBrlc3woIP" createdat="1647723017000" id="1505285553297760265"></div> Should freeloaders be worried in India? In a <a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/paying-to-share-netflix-outside-your-household">blog </a>post that went live on Wednesday, Chengyi Long, director of product innovation said, “They [multiple streams] have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households – impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.” So, Netflix will now start charging extra for users outside their households as a way to prevent password sharing in these markets, to begin with, and later evaluate whether to bring it to other markets. It is adding two features to curb sharing – ‘Add Extra Member’ and ‘Transfer Profile to New Account.’ While Netflix hasn’t given any indication as to whether it plans to expand this new feature beyond initial test markets, if it does, it could have a negative impact on its rather <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/netflix-added-8-3-million-paid-subscribers-in-last-quarter-its-slowest-growth-since-2015/articleshow/89033252.cms">slow growth</a> trajectory in India. As per data and analytics platform <a href="https://www.data.ai/en/insights/market-data/state-of-mobile-2022-bouyant-economy/">App Annie</a>, Netflix currently has the largest global footprint among video streaming services and is set to surpass 1 million downloads in over 60 countries in 2022. However, the story is different in India. The California-based global streaming platform Netflix is losing its users to homegrown platforms. As per App Annie’s State of Mobile 2022 report -- sorted by total downloads as of 2021, Disney+Hotstar is the most downloaded app, followed by MX Player and ZEE5. <keyword id="3194526" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="netflix-india" source="Orion">Netflix India</keyword> didn’t make it to its top 10 list. While Netflix doesn’t reveal its user base for the Indian market, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/netflixs-lack-of-success-in-india-frustrating-cofounder-reed-hastings-says/articleshow/89044470.cms">media </a>reports indicate that it is between 4.3 million-4.5 million, which is a small fraction of its competitor Disney+Hotstar (close to 36 million) and Amazon Prime Video (over 17 million). Even Netflix’s co-chief executive (CEO) and cofounder Reed Hastings admitted that the team has been stumped by the lack of success in India. In the company’s post-results webcast for the October-December quarter of 2021, Hastings said, “The thing that frustrates us is why haven’t we been as successful in India. But we are definitely leaning in there.” Business Insider India has reached out to Netflix India for comments on the story, but the company has not responded till the time of filing this report. Before Hastings voiced his frustration publicly, Netflix India had <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/netflix-india-cuts-prices-across-its-streaming-plans/articleshow/88267582.cms">slashed </a>its pricing for the mobile-only plan from ₹199/month to ₹149/month in December 2021 to expand its user base and cut through intense rivalry from Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video and other 60 over-the-top (OTT) platforms. With its choppy growth numbers and slow subscription rate, if Netflix were to restrict password sharing in a price-sensitive market like India, it could slide even further downhill. The streaming platform was launched in India in January 2016 and it is in the initial days of the launch, brand guru and founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., Harish Bijoor, says that a brand or business must set the right practice, and changing it all of a sudden has aspects of ‘negative-peril biting into it.’ “Netflix is watched in India by more people who pay for it. And that is a reality that has its positives and negatives. Password-sharing is today the norm and accepted practice. Something Netflix did not curtail as a practice in its early days. India is a jugaad market. Password-sharing is today a practice that upset the apple cart of many a viewer and many a subscriber. It is going to have quite the effect that a Whatsapp could experience if it became a fee-paid service. Netflix's frustration is really of its own making,” explains Bijoor. As per consulting firm Ormax Media’s OTT sizing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/media/article/india-has-353-million-ott-users-and-96-million-active-paid-subscriptions-which-translates-into-a-penetration-of-25-3-ormax-media-report/articleshow/85791184.cms">report </a>2021, India had a total of 353.2 million OTT users, out of which only 40.7 million i.e., 11.5 % were subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) users and a huge chunk of this market relies on password sharing. Gautam Jain, partner, Ormax Media says, “A large set of OTT users are SVOD Non-paying -- around 19.8 % (69.8 million), i.e., those who watch SVOD content but through password sharing or downloads. While the SVOD subscribers would have shown growth, this non-paying segment would have also grown given the price sensitivity amongst Indian audiences.” In Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, Netflix is charging an extra fee to users who share their accounts outside their household. Subscribers will be charged about $2.98 a month in Chile, $2.99 in Costa Rica and about $2.12 in Peru. As per research firm Trust Research Advisory’s (TRA) CEO, N Chandramouli, the Indian market is so price sensitive that fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giants are scared to make even a 2 rupee change in their packets of biscuits, shampoo or noodles. Similarly, he says that Netflix’s price-slashing strategy from ₹199 to ₹149 has not attracted new customers. It has allowed its current subscribers to move to an even cheaper plan. And in India, Chandramouli says, pirates are always a step ahead than creators. So, if Netflix were to revise its pricing strategy for the third time in India, it could confuse users, leading to a rise in pirated content. To buy pirated content in Mumbai without having to download an app, all you have to do is walk down the Fort area and you would find 4-5 vendors chasing you — offering the latest releases on a CD or a pen drive, he adds. “There is a huge amount of piracy, which has now climbed onto the OTT bandwagon. Whether it is Telegram or Chinese torrent apps, pirated OTT content is shared there indiscriminately. From the very beginning, from softwares to movies, Indians don't find too much of [sic] qualms about piracy. On top of that, there are about 40 OTT platforms in India. So, the options in entertainment is proliferated [sic] and in this market, a slight price increase could have an impact. Netflix is attempting different strategies in order to attract new subscribers, but nothing has happened. People have downgraded their plans. So, Netflix will suffer a big backlash from existing users if at all it was to renew prices and stop password sharing,” he says. According to a <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/as-digital-piracy-rises-amid-pandemic-original-content-creators-losing-money-ey/article34743362.ece">report </a>by Digital TV Research, the loss of revenue for OTT players on account of piracy in India is expected to hit $3.08 billion by 2022. OTT players are trying to woo consumers with exclusive Bollywood movies and regional content. Chandramouli pointed out that Netflix or Amazon Prime haven’t been able to get their acquisition strategy right in India yet. Citing a recent example, he said that both these streaming services rushed to get Amitabh Bachchan’s movie Sooryavanshi onto their platform for ₹100 crore, which is at least shown once a week on Set Max and other television channels. On television, a viewer can get a minimum of 900 channels in ₹300-350 per month bouquet. It is the only entertainment medium that drives close to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/media/article/how-india-is-cutting-the-cord-to-drive-an-ott-revolution/articleshow/90347924.cms">60%</a> of its revenue from a subscription-based model as compared to other forms of traditional media that are heavily dependent on advertisements. So, if Netflix charges a 10-15% extra for sharing passwords within an Indian household, which is ₹25 to 30, research firm Elara Capital’s senior vice president Karan Taurani also believes that it could have a negative impact. “Indian consumers are very value-centric and they don’t pay for one platform but a bundle of platforms. Netflix has done well in India after reducing its prices and offering a quantity of content. This two-fold strategy has led to the scaling of their subscriber base. If they ask for substituent fee from separate family members, it could work in a negative way because we haven’t been used to it. We pay for one TV set-up box and there are three-four watchers in every household,” says Taurani. When Netflix came to India, it priced its maiden premium plan at ₹500, which Tarurani says was 7X-8X higher than TV bundle plans and other OTT platforms. It was competing with OTT platforms and a huge TV-watching audience in India back then. This challenge led to Netflix’s slow growth and the streaming company has changed pricing as well as introduced a mobile-only plan in the country since then, slashing its price by 60%. “Netflix India revenue has grown 65% YoY in FY21 and it has a market share of almost 35% in India’s SVOD market; we believe Netflix has the first-mover advantage in India, as it was one of the first pay based OTT offerings in the country; it has been able to create a strong brand recall within Indian audience for premium content offerings behind a paywall and this will help it gain more market share as it penetrates deeper in India,” says Taurani. After the October-December quarterly results, Taurani says that Netflix is headed in the right direction. If Netflix now revises its password-sharing policy and price point, it could send the company back to square one.

Could the days of mooching off Netflix accounts come to an end in India? Here’s what experts say

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5671b88372f2c12a008b62aa-2669-2002/ignition15 d2 lg 0275.jpg" alt="Michael Lynton Ignition 2015" data-mce-source="Business Insider IGNITION 2015" />Business Insider IGNITION 2015David Brancaccio (L) interviews Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton (R) at Business Insider's IGNITION 2015 conference.</div></div></div>Michael Lynton has been CEO of Sony Pictures for a decade, overseeing the production of hit movies like "American Hustle," "The Social Network," and the James Bond franchise. He has 21 different record labels under his management, including Sony and Epic. And he led the company through last year's major cyber attack. Lynton was a featured speaker at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/event/ignition-2015">Business Insider's Ignition Conference</a> earlier this month. He was interviewed by David Brancaccio of American Public Media's radio program, "Marketplace." The following has been edited for clarity and length.DB: Welcome to the man whose studio is behind the latest James Bond film, "Spectre," which I think brought in $200 million in its first weekend. Congratulations.ML: Thank you.DB: Speaking of espionage and skulduggery, I have to ask about the Sony hack. The anniversary, if I can call it that, is about a year ago. Right? Just before Thanksgiving.ML: Not an anniversary I like to celebrate.DB: Yes, I know. The Obama administration blamed it on North Korea. Before we get, Michael, to the enduring lessons of that incident for you and your company, give us a sense of some of the lessons we can draw - all of us who are in business - from what happened to you.ML: You know I've talked to a lot of people who are currently running companies and they always ask that question. And I think the focus on trying to bolster your cybersecurity is a good idea. But ultimately that's not the solution.<blockquote class="pullquote">I think the focus on trying to bolster your cybersecurity is a good idea. But ultimately that's not the solution.</blockquote>I think actually one of the key things you need to do is know who to call when it happens. Because if it is a sovereign nation, which is what we're told it was in our case, calling the local police department doesn't do you a lot of good. So you better have a contact, as we did, through Nicole Seligman, who's the president of Sony Corporation of America, in the FBI or in the Department of Justice or Homeland Security.DB: Are there some boys at Fort Meade that have a hotline or something?ML: I'm sure there are. But you need to know who to call. The FBI was spectacular, and DOJ was great, and they were on the scene within a day and that was what was critical to the whole thing.DB: So know who to call. What about knowing what to write in an email?ML: Well, I think that's the other lesson. We've become as a culture, and everybody would say this, over-reliant on email. And it's particularly true if you are in a multinational company and you're dealing with multiple time zones and a lot of people on the road all the time. But inevitably there are a lot of things that should be kept to a phone conversation, particularly when it's sensitive, that people are now randomly putting into emails that probably don't make sense.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56703a062340f817008b5b09-1200-488/sony-since-2014-hack.png" alt="Sony since 2014 hack" data-mce-source="Samantha Lee" />Samantha Lee</div></div></div>DB: There's changing email behavior. But what about changing what you actually do? Is there any of that at Sony, given what happened?ML: Yes. I think people are a little bit more moderate in the way they are expressing themselves generally. But you know inevitably you get back to business as usual and I'm sure people start saying things probably they shouldn't. It is the entertainment business.<blockquote class="pullquote">But you know inevitably you get back to business as usual and I'm sure people start saying things probably they shouldn't. It is the entertainment business.</blockquote>DB: One of the many features of that whole sorry incident was how you eventually released the movie that may have been the catalyst for some of this. It was supposed to go to theaters, but it didn't in the end. Tell us about what you learned from that non-traditional release of "The Interview."ML: So, unfortunately, I'm not sure that it really is a good test case. When the decision was made, or rather made for us, that we couldn't get the movie released nationally in theaters, we decided that we better get it out somehow. We called all sorts of platforms to release it and ultimately Google and Microsoft came forward. We released it at a very cheap price relative to what you would normally do in a national release. We released it on the day we promised we would release it, which was on the Wednesday following. We released it nationally but there was almost no advertising to tell people how we were going to do it. And as great as Google and Microsoft are, they're not the go-to sites for feature movies. I think a lot of people saw the movie or bought the movie just out of patriotism. So we did learn that you can get to a very big number in a very short time even with all those obstacles in place. So it does suggest that there is something there.DB: Beyond the hack and beyond that particular movie, you are wrestling with this all the time. I know you're a big fan of the theatrical release. There is something about buying a big box of raisinettes and sitting there in a darkened room focusing on something. That's rare in American life. But then there are the digital streams that are competing. So what is some of your current thinking on theatrical versus some of the other ways to get video out?ML: Our studio is a big believer, as you say, in the theatrical experience. There are a lot of reasons for it. There's the actual aesthetic or the experience of sitting in a dark theater, particularly for big movies or comedies, where you want to see them with an audience. The business model also works incredibly well for us. You know you get lots of bites at the apple with theatrical and the other windows that come after it. There's always going to be a question - and I think it's an ongoing issue both here in the United States and outside of the United States - as to whether or not you shrink the window, whether you move one window in front of another window. You can see stuff going on right now in the Russian market, for example, where the window's down at 30 days, which we would never do here. DB: Thirty days between theatrical release and you can get it some other way? ML: Yes, because piracy was so high that we figured OK, fine, the only way to combat that would be to immediately release the movie a month later on DVD. In France it's mandated that it can't come out by law until six months after theatrical release. DB: That's the law?ML: That's the law. You're also not allowed to advertise movies on television there, by law, so you're restricted on a lot of levels. You can get it out there other ways.DB: That's amazing.ML: You know there's always the possibility in the future that something else might happen, but for the time being, I think we like the windowing the way that it's structured today.DB: An interesting coincidence happened to me last night. When I got home and my wife was watching Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation," the movie about child soldiers in Africa, on Netflix. Netflix is the producer of that movie. Does that worry you, Netflix as movie producer?ML: No. I think it's yes and no. The no is, the more the merrier. I think it's a great idea to have another platform out there that's making movies and giving an outlet for people. Yes, in the particular instance of this movie, because this specialty business depends on creating movies at the right price and having a specific kind of marketing and publicity schedule. Obviously if Netflix is competing in this instance at higher pricing going to the producers than what the average studio would do, it creates a problem for our specialty divisions. We'll see how this plays out over time.DB: That was a Jeff Skoll Participant Media thing. It's really moving, but it's not going to be a blockbuster, wide-release film. So help us understand this term of art that you probably deal with a lot, OTT, over-the-top content. ML: Right so OTT is basically what you get with Hulu or Netflix, which is you receive it over the internet as opposed to over your typical cable subscription or satellite subscription.DB: You do this yourself with Crackle.ML: We have Crackle, which is an OTT service, which is advertising supported. It's where we put originals on, a lot of originals, and we also put a lot of movies that Sony and other studios have produced in the past as well as television shows.DB: Crackle has "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," the Seinfeld series. It's got "The Art of More" with Dennis Quaid, which is an original. Now when you sign up it's free, so can you make money off this?ML: Yes, absolutely you can make money off it. You know it's back a little bit to the old broadcasting model, although I would argue the audience is much more specific than the old broadcasting model. But it doesn't right now benefit from two revenue streams; it only comes out of advertising. But as long as you keep your costs in line and you get a large enough audience, I think you can make good money on it. And we're broadening it out. You know we're now in 21 countries. So the broader the audience, obviously, the better chance you have of making money.DB: There's a little piece of Crackle that caught my attention. Early this year you launched on Crackle I think something called "always on." And that has one simple feature that is different from, let's say, Netflix. It's like old-style TV. Somebody somewhere else, a programmer, decided what's on. And if you're interested in tuning in for something, you have to come at the right time or just see what's there.ML: For some people in this world of infinite choice, it's nice to have somebody else make the choice for you, and have somebody else curate for you. You see it in radio and certainly we see it in how popular that part of the service is.DB: Sociologists study this. It's called the paradox of choice. Sometimes you can be paralyzed by it. I know in my household you go to Netflix and sometimes you just spend your evening pawing through possibilities.ML: And what we also see - in this particular in the generation that has everything available to them at all times - is that they tend to not see a lot of stuff, particularly stuff that's older, because they always say to themselves, "Oh, I'll get to that at some point." Whereas you know when I was growing up, certainly you had to see "Wizard of Oz" when it was broadcast on television or you had to see a certain movie when it was in the theater. So there was an urgency to it. The minute you take that urgency away and you give continuous choice, I think people are actually in some instances less likely to see a lot of stuff. DB: So you see some young film aficionados who get a little blank when you say "Citizen Kane?"ML: Not just "Citizen Kane," I mean stuff that goes right up and through the '70s and '80s. When you say "Five Easy Pieces" or even if you were to say "Raging Bull," they can list a lot of movies post 1995, but when it comes to pre-1995 or pre-1990 you find that all of a sudden you're asking questions and they say, "well I meant to get to that but haven't quite gotten into it yet."DB: So let's talk about global reach and the work you're doing at Sony. I mean you're everywhere. I just saw the other day that "Mad About You" from the '90s, there's a version that's just been licensed to China. I wouldn't have thought that would work across borders, but you do a lot of that.ML: Yes, we've had [that kind of international] business now for almost 20 years. It was first in Latin America and then we have a very big business in Russia with American situation comedies. We did "The Nanny," we did "Raymond," we've done "Married with Children," all of them in Russia, with huge success, using local actors.<blockquote class="pullquote">We did "The Nanny," we did "Raymond," we've done "Married with Children," all of them in Russia, with huge success, using local actors.</blockquote>The first few series, the first few episodes of the first few seasons are translations of the original. But after that they actually go forward and they become so popular in the case some of these series they write originals and go forward. You know, who would have thought "The Nanny" would translate to a Russian audience, but it does. It was hugely, hugely popular in its day. And so that's why we're trying it in China now.DB: Let's talk about the global economy. China isn't growing as quickly as it did. Maybe Europe has bottomed out and could be improving. What are you seeing? Because we have the US economy, which seems to be on a different track. What are you seeing from your global operations?ML: Actually we are seeing huge growth. It's sometimes masked by the strength of the dollar. So you're sort of swimming upstream because we report in dollars. But when you look particularly at things like the movie business in China where they're adding, I don't know, 6, 7, 8 screens a day and will quickly overtake the United States in terms of domestic box office. When you look at the demand for American drama television series in particular around the world for television networks all over the place we see that's the area of growth for us, even in Europe where, as you say, it's sort of bottoming out. But barring certain markets, obviously Brazil is having its difficulties at the moment, it's definitely it's a good time for American entertainment.DB: So you report in dollars.ML: And then it gets translated back into yen but in the first instance in dollars, yes.DB: Do you think the global nature of a lot of your business changes the product in some sense? I remember seeing the original TV show "Mission Impossible" on several different television stations on trips through Africa. There's little dialogue in "Mission Impossible" the TV show. There's very little to translate and so it lent itself to international distribution. One imagines that movie scripts and perhaps TV shows are aware of that and that may change in some way.ML: You know I get asked this question a lot when interacting with, not directly with the State Department, but parts of the US government that are concerned about public diplomacy. They are under the impression, as was the case back in the '60s and '70s, that American movies are in large part what inform people abroad about democracy and American culture. I would argue that's not the case anymore. Particularly with the big blockbuster movies that we try and get out all over the world. We try and sprinkle the movies with casts that are international. We try and actually pull back a little bit on the American jingoism. I do think of the two, probably television is more attuned to public diplomacy right now than film. Because actually when you are making an American television show you don't have those things in mind. The stakes aren't as big. So if you cancel it overseas it's not the end of the world. And a movie you definitely want to be able to have the world wide market right out of the gate.DB: Norman Lear with those legendary shows on American television that had social content for an American audience, that's a very different animal.ML: Right. I grew up in the Netherlands, and between "M*A*S*H" and "All in the Family," that was how I learned about the United States, for sure.DB: But it's quite different now, you think?ML: I think it's pretty different, yes.DB: There's a lot of talk about super-duper digital TV screens. Ultra digital 4K. Do you have any content for those TV shows?ML: We do. We make a lot of it actually. So it's worth getting the television set. I don't mean to be hawking TV sets for Sony, and others. But it looks fantastic. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-cramer-bad-moment-jon-stewart-revenge-show-up-cnbc-mad-money-2015-12">JIM CRAMER: 'YOU SHOW UP AND THAT'S THE REVENGE'</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="dub2JmeToAuIb6s6LVlTsmOe6FIdXLlt" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'dub2JmeToAuIb6s6LVlTsmOe6FIdXLlt',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

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