it is not a pity - it is an inherent contradiction!
if they seriously want to fight "illegal watching" then they need to offer legal free or paid options - if they don't want to do this, or have already made so many limited/exclusive licensing agreements in so many markets that this is not possible, then I am sorry but in my opinion they have forfeited their moral high ground stance and have no right to bitch and moan when their content is pirated
yes I understand they are the copyright holders and can thus license or distribute their content any way they want, but consider the original concept behind most copyright legislation, and how this has been diluted and destroyed by constant extensions of copyright protection, mostly pushed by a few large and influential content producers and distributors, and by restrictive market licensing agreements; then consider how easy it should be today for both small and large content producers and distributors to profitably make content widely available at low or no cost to consumers; then ask them why they consider this anathema to their marketing objectives and why they use this as an excuse to prosecute piracy!