The film "Red Rain" was uploaded illegally within hours of its debut, highlighting the alarming scale of copyright infringement in Vietnam.

"Red Rain" was made available for free streaming on TV360, with the aim of sharing its historical and humanitarian values with the wider public. But that very legal distribution became prey for illegal sites, which copied, re-edited, and re-uploaded the film to generate illicit profits - turning serious artistic efforts into easy bait for a shadow market.

Even free content isn't spared from piracy

TV360, Vietnam’s OTT platform, is currently considered one of the most advanced in copyright protection. It employs Multi-DRM Level 1 encryption technologies from global giants - Google’s Widevine, Apple’s FairPlay, and Microsoft’s PlayReady - offering top-tier content protection recognized by film studios and major sports leagues worldwide.

The platform also uses dynamic watermarking tied to individual user accounts, allowing identification of leaks even when content is screen-recorded, compressed, or edited. Hardware-level screen capture protection disables most popular recording tools. TV360’s dedicated copyright operations center works around the clock to detect, report, and request takedowns of pirated content as soon as it surfaces.

In the case of "Red Rain", all these measures were in place. Yet, the film was pirated within hours - a reflection not of weak protection but of a brazen black market that thrives despite legal and technological barriers.

This incident once again illustrates that piracy in Vietnam has evolved beyond casual theft into a structured “underground industry” that profits massively while facing little legal consequence.

Meanwhile, legitimate businesses are left to bear the costs of licensing, production, infrastructure, and copyright enforcement.

By offering "Red Rain" for free, TV360 sought to bring a meaningful work to a wide audience. But instead, this lawful content was hijacked, remixed, and illegally monetized - yet another example of how good-faith efforts are being exploited.

400 pirate websites and Vietnam’s chaotic piracy landscape

According to the Cinema Department, over 400 Vietnamese-language websites stream tens of thousands of movies without any legal rights. These sites profit from ads - many linked to gambling or betting - as well as VIP packages, prepaid cards, and paid HD viewing.

Operating without content costs, the piracy ecosystem has become a money-making machine.

Even when penalized, many simply change domains and resume operations, creating a “whack-a-mole” scenario that has lasted for years.

In such an environment, the gap between “law-abiding businesses that suffer” and “violators who profit” becomes painfully clear.

Legal enterprises lose investment momentum, while pirate sites grow stronger by monetizing stolen content.

If this cycle isn’t broken, the legitimate film market will erode, and creators will lose faith in building a sustainable creative future.

According to Decree 131/2013/NĐ-CP, administrative fines for copyright violations can reach 250 million VND (approx. 10,200 USD) for individuals and 500 million VND (approx. 20,400 USD) for organizations.

However, actual fines are usually much lower - often just a few million VND - trivial compared to the revenue these pirate websites generate.

While other countries have introduced serious criminal penalties for organized copyright violations, Vietnam still lacks robust enforcement, making deterrence weak.

Offenders face minimal legal risk and continue to operate openly. Tracking them is difficult due to overseas servers, anonymizing technologies, and constantly shifting domain names. It has become a never-ending game of cat and mouse.

Rethinking viewer responsibility

While the habit of watching free films is often blamed, the deeper issue lies in respect - or lack thereof - for creative labor.

A film is not made by copying files. It’s the product of thousands of people’s intelligence, time, financial investment, and dedication.

When viewers treat pirated films as normal, they devalue creative work. Ultimately, they too suffer when the market lacks seriously crafted productions.

Viewers hold the power to decide whether pirate sites survive. Only by actively rejecting illegal sources can the content industry operate fairly and sustainably.

If lawful content continues to be stolen and circulated freely, all serious investments by producers and platforms will be in vain.

In this context, platforms like TV360 play a vital role by offering rich, timely, and high-quality content to meet the entertainment needs of viewers in a healthy way.

Specifically, offering Red Rain free of charge is more than a kind gesture - it’s a strategic step to steer audiences back toward lawful, respectful content consumption.

Criminal penalties needed for copyright violations

Experts argue that fighting piracy requires coordinated, aggressive action from regulatory bodies, ISPs, and financial institutions to cut off the monetary lifelines of pirate sites.

Criminal prosecution for serious infringements is also essential to create genuine deterrence.

Enhanced use of encryption, traceability tools, leak monitoring, and public education are also crucial to building copyright awareness.

A film is not created in a day - it’s a result of collective effort and vision. When that work is stolen, the loss affects not just the producer or platform, but the entire creative industry.

The battle against piracy won’t be won overnight. But if we don’t act decisively now, society’s creative values will continue to erode, and artistic ambition will dry up.

On the other hand, by standing together to protect copyright, we can support artists and foster a vibrant digital content ecosystem - where works like Red Rain are shared through legitimate channels and valued as they deserve.

Thai Khang