May 09, 2024 07:00:00

A specialist organization has released the results of a survey asking how many people are using workarounds when pirate sites are blocked.

As a measure against pirated content suspected of copyright infringement, blocking measures such as making pirate sites inaccessible or preventing them from appearing at the top of Google search results are being implemented.

Arcom , a French anti-piracy agency, has published the results of a survey on how Internet users circumvent blocking and what percentage of users resort to workarounds when faced with a blocked site.

(PDF file) USAGE OF INTERNET SEQUENCES AND FINES THAT ARE ILLEGAL FOR ACCESS TO DATA | Arcom
https://www.arcom.fr/sites/default/files/2024-04/Arcom-Usage-des-outils-de-securisation-Internet-a-des-fins-access-illicites-aux-biens-dematerialises-Rapport-etude-qualitative-et-quantitative-avril-2024.pdf

Pirate Site Blocking Agency Reveals How and Why Pirates Circumvent Blocking * TorrentFreak
https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-blocking-agency-reveals-how-and-why-pirates-circumvent-blocking-240503/

Blocking the domains of pirate sites is considered an immediate and effective way to combat piracy. Google does not display sites or domains suspected of copyright infringement in its search results, making it difficult for users to access pirate sites with blocked domains. Google reported that it removed approximately 680 million pieces of 'suspected copyright infringing content' from its search results in 2022 alone, and nearly half of them were blocked without ever being displayed.

Google blocked more than 680 million URLs for copyright infringement in 2022, nearly half of which were blocked without ever being displayed - GIGAZINE

The Audiovisual and Digital Communications Regulatory Agency (Arcom), launched in January 2022, is the French anti-piracy agency that oversees site blocking and other measures, and also conducts research aimed at better understanding the piracy landscape. At the end of April 2024, Arcom released a report called 'The Use of Internet Security Tools for Unauthorized Access to Digital Goods,' summarizing user reactions to piracy blocks.

According to the report, 23 percent of French internet users aged 15 and over said they knew that changing DNS settings was a way to circumvent pirate site blocks. About 27 percent knew about changing DNS settings but did not know how it worked, and about half were not even aware of the existence of DNS.

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are also often used to circumvent site blocking. 42% of respondents said they had used a VPN in the past, and 81% said they had a rough understanding of the term VPN. On the other hand, 32% of users said they did not know what a VPN was for, but Arcom concluded that 'VPNs are more well known to Internet users than DNS.'

Overall, Arcom's report showed that 35% of French internet users will change their DNS settings or use a VPN to circumvent blocking in 2023. However, Arcom noted that changing DNS settings and using a VPN is not just for accessing pirated content, as 24% of users said they 'obtained pirated content in 2023.' Of all VPN or DNS users, 66% said their purpose 'includes illegal activities,' and 56% cited 'protection from online risks.'

Additionally, users who recognize that using a VPN involves illegal activities 'justify their actions by citing issues with the offer, not the cost,' Arcom noted. 55% of VPN users cited 'anonymity' as the reason for their use, and 46% said they use it to 'access sites that are not available in France.' Only 14% said they use it to 'access illegal sites that are blocked,' indicating that most VPN users do not use it to access pirated content.

Finally, Arcom summarizes the percentage of VPN or DNS users for each browser. According to the graph,

Opera has a browser usage rate of about 3% of the total, but since Opera has a VPN function by default, it has the highest percentage of VPN or DNS users.