by Social Science Research Network — 12 February 2024
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have published a study investigating how pirate website blocking impacts the consumption of both legal and illegal film and TV.
The research examined data from two site blocking waves in India, and one in Brazil and found that, following the block there was a “statistically and economically significant increase in visits to paid legal movie and television sites resulting from the blocks.”
In India, the waves in 2019 and 2020 caused an 8.1% increase and 3.1% increase in legal consumption. Meanwhile blocking in Brazil in 2021 caused a 5.2% increase.
The results are consistent with a similar study of site blocking in the UK between 2012 and 2014.
Download the paper here.