The Asia Video Industry Association and its Coalition Against Piracy reported the region’s largest site-blocking effort to date, in Singapore; and submitted input to the Office of the US Trade Representative for its upcoming Special 301 report in January and March 2022.
Matthew Cheetham, who has taken over the General Manager role from the departing Aaron Herps, positions AVIA’s anti-piracy mission as being to ‘lead the protection of member company content online in the Asia Pacific region’ through collaboration, research and technology, endorcement and disruption, and engagement and outreach. Mr Cheetham previously was with the Premier League and the Motion Picture Association.
Piracy in Q1 2022
AVIA constantly monitors pirate site activity, and published an encouraging trend-line, which puts evidence to its successes.
AVIA and CAP also monitored or consulted to a variety of regional efforts during Q1, including:
- A new draft Copyright Act in Thailand, which seeks to offer rights-holders an opportunity to submit infringement complaints directly to ISPs, bypassing courts, with the goal of speedier resolution
- A copyright consultation in Hong Kong that brought discussion of site blocking, safe harbor, freedom of contract, and copyright exemptions; and the need for technology-neutral legislation
- The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Commission is drafting regulation toward a Code of Ethics and a complaint mechanism; including takedown measures
- Debate in South Korea as to whether broadcast platforms and curated content players should be compelled to share earnings with local producers or donate a percentage of profits to content industry players.
Industry research in Q1
AVIA also published several piracy research pieces during Q1, including “Time to Compromise” – which is about how long it takes to break into devices, not about peaceful negotiation – and a YouGov study about the effectiveness of site blocking legislation. AVIA is also close to completing and publishing a report on how piracy has migrated to social media, such as Telegram.
Impact of COVID
Indonesia’s Cyber Media Law, intended to compel tech companies to negotiate payment with content providers, remains paused due to COVID. Royal endorsement of new National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commissioners in Thailand also remains on hold.
AVIA has also had ongoing dialog with companies that operate critical media infrastructure in Hong Kong, given the SAR’s uncertainties around COVID and government oversight.
But wait, there’s more.
Read AVIA’s quarterly PULSE newsletter, March 2022 (free download .pdf)
Read the US Trade Representative Special 301 Report (2021)
Why it matters
AVIA and CAP have an ongoing record of success against piracy in the South Asia region. It’s very informative for media industry stakeholders who license content out for distribution into that region, to remain informed about the challenges and success against piracy there.
AVIA’s input to the US Trade Representative’s Special 301 Report helps US entities “to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property (IP) rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection.”
