"For too long, online piracy has been treated as a nuisance and not the multi-billion dollar industry that baits consumers to expose them to fraud and malware, hurts the reputation of brands and the overall advertising ecosystem, harms creators, and poses new challenges for law enforcement," Digital Citizens Alliance said in a press release.

The release summarized a report based on a year-long investigation by Digital Citizens and the internet security firm White Bullet into how brands and advertising intermediaries help support the operators of illegal piracy websites.

Researchers found that advertisements for Amazon, Facebook, and Google accounted for 73 percent of all major brands advertising that appeared frequently on piracy apps, the report said.

The report also said the top websites that offer stolen content generate $1.08 billion in global annual ad revenue and that roughly one in three piracy websites and apps have risky advertising that exposes consumers to fraud and malware.