It's as easy as buying a satellite dish and pointing it in the right direction. There are hundreds of channels to choose from, most of them free to view, and some of them showing the latest Hollywood blockbusters or live premium sporting events. The problem is, much of the programming is illegal.
Licensed broadcasters are rightly complaining that pirate satellite stations are screening material to which they do not own the rights, and that this is a threat to the entire entertainment industry.
As David Butorac, the chief executive of OSN, told The National yesterday: "People think that pirated material is a victimless crime but that is not the case. The region as a whole is losing about $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) a year. The money lost to legitimate rights holders by people watching pirated movies is money that we cannot then reinvest to improve our services, in programming or local talent."
Piracy, be it by satellite or over the internet, is a challenge for broadcasters and authorities, especially when the offenders can be located anywhere in the world. Illegal satellite stations can be shut down - two of them were closed last month - but others will probably replace them. The internet is even more difficult to police, because the number of "channels" is virtually infinite and the costs of providing illegal downloading or streaming services is almost negligible.
Legitimate broadcasters have a right to legal protection, and strong, strictly enforced, laws must be put in place. But simply punishing those offenders who can be caught won't make the problem go away.
The pirates have an edge, not just because they provide content for free, but because they offer a very broad range of material, often on demand, and before it can be put to air by the legitimate rights holders.
If they want to put the pirates out of business, content producers, broadcasters and authorities worldwide need to find ways to give audiences what they want, when they want it - and at a reasonable price.
The models are Apple's iTunes, which has made a huge catalogue of songs available for as little as 69 cents (Dh2.50) per track, and Pandora, a US service that provides free, advertising-supported music streaming tailored to the tastes of individual listeners.
A problem born of modern technology requires a creative, modern solution.
