ITV

Tag: pay TV theft

  • Casbaa welcomes Australia’s move against pay TV theft

    MUMBAI: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has welcomed a decision by the Australian government to criminalise the act of dishonestly accessing pay-TV services throughout Australia.

    Last month Attorney-General Philip Ruddock who represents the Australian government said, “Following a six month review by my Department, the Australian Government has decided that criminal penalties should be available against those who access Pay TV broadcasts without authorisation and payment of the subscription fee.”

    Under the new measures it will also be an offence for a pay TV subscriber to distribute a subscription broadcast to other premises or for a subscriber to use the broadcast for commercial purposes if the appropriate subscription fee has not been paid.

    Pay TV signal theft is a major concern for Australia’s pay television industry which estimates it costs the industry in excess of $50 million per year in lost revenue.

    Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies says, “Australia has made a forward-looking decision on this important question. The pay-TV industry can only thrive if people who enjoy our content pay a fair price for it. This ensures that everyone across the value chain – from the cable-TV installer to the actors, athletes, musicians and news reporters who create our content – earns a fair return on their labours.”

    Casbaa says that it hopes that Australia’s decision will be replicated by other governments in the region which do not already treat pay-TV signal theft as a crime.

    Casbaa states that it believes the governance and protection of intellectual property rights will play an increasingly important role in encouraging economic growth across Asia and is already one of the criteria utilised by the international investment community to determine which markets receive foreign direct investment.

    The Association notes that while $37.5 million is estimated to be lost on an annual basis to pay-TV piracy in Australia, the figures for the rest of the region are even more startling. In Hong Kong it was $25 million in 2004; in Thailand it was a huge $141 million; in the Philippines it was $70; and in Taiwan it was $114 million.

  • Casbaa urges action on Hong Kong pay-TV theft

    MUMBAI: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) says it is time for the Hong Kong government to address the issue of criminalisation of the domestic use of unauthorized pay-TV decoders in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

    The pay-TV piracy, which is part of the Casbaa agenda as the problem has escalated in the jurisdictions of Hong Kong, it notes.

    Casbaa estimates that pay-TV signal theft in Hong Kong cost HK$195 million last year. There is also a cost to the government in uncollected license fees and taxes, it says.

    According to an official release, the association, which represents all of Hong Kong’s pay-TV operators as well as the regional pay-TV channels, notes that recent reports of the “cracking” of the encryption codes of Hong Kong pay-TV operator i-Cable only highlights the need for a multi-faceted approach to pay-TV signal theft, including technical solutions, legal remedies and public education.

    CASBAA chairman Marcel Fenez says, “We recognise that there will always be battles to stay ahead of the technology curve. The pay-TV industry regularly adopts new technical solutions to piracy as a matter of practice.”

    “Investment in the latest encryption technology is just a part of the cost of doing business, ” he adds.

    However, the pay-TV industry and the community at large also need the support of regulators and enforcement agencies if the media industry is to continue to thrive in Hong Kong. “Technical solutions cannot stand alone,” says Fenez.

    “The pro-active enforcement of criminal controls on traders in illegal equipment — plus the introduction of criminal sanctions for the domestic usage of unauthorised pay-TV decoders – should now be a priority for Hong Kong,” he adds.

    Casbaa notes that criminal sanctions for domestic pay-TV signal theft are in place in many jurisdictions, including Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the United States.

    Casbaa believes that clearly identifying end-user piracy as a criminal offence will significantly reduce demand for unauthorised pay-TV distribution within Hong Kong, thus making the development and sales of illegal decoders a less attractive proposition for those involved in criminal activities.

    “It’s time for Hong Kong to face up to this issue,” adds Fenez. “Unless it does so, our industry and the HKSAR’s reputation as a respected regional media hub will suffer further damage.”

    Casbaa also believes the Hong Kong government needs to eliminate any gray areas with regards to pay-TV piracy that do not draw a clear distinction between what is the legally permitted distribution of pay-TV services and what is not.

    According to Casbaa, another outstanding issue of significant concern in Hong Kong is the continued distribution of unauthorised pay-TV signals in public venues such as clubs and pubs.

    “As with the tolerance of domestic pay-TV signal theft, the public venue issue sends very negative signals to consumers, damages the media investment climate and undermines the creation of compelling TV content,” said Fenez.