Hong Kong, September 14, 2007 – Industry body the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has applauded a call by regional political leaders at the recent APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Council) meeting for governments to “effectively address” the issue of satellite and cable TV signal theft.
“The new priority given by the APEC ministers to this problem is great news,” said Marcel Fenez, the Chairman of CASBAA. “With estimated pay-TV piracy in Asia topping US$1.1 billion — and still rising — governments must sit up and take notice.”
The APEC statement noted that TV signal piracy does great harm to copyright owners, legitimate pay-TV operators and broadcasters.
“The big change is that Asian governments now see the damage that piracy of all kinds to does to their domestic economies,” said Mr. Fenez. “With more and more Asian content entering the global media market, it is not only the legitimate distributors, but increasingly Asian content owners who bear the brunt of signal theft.”
The Ministerial statement followed a recommendation by the APEC Business Advisory Council last autumn which called on governments to revoke operating licenses from pay-TV operators who distribute content without authorization from copyright holders.
“APEC governments have every reason to be concerned,” said Mr. Fenez. “Piracy undermines the creative industries, delays digital development, and saps tax revenues that could be used for national goals.”
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About CASBAA – www.casbaa.com
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) is an industry-based advocacy group dedicated to the promotion of multi-channel TV via cable, satellite, broadband and wireless video networks across the Asia-Pacific. CASBAA represents some 125 Asia-based corporations, which in turn serve more than three billion people. Members include AETN International (History Channel), Asia Broadcast Networks, Asia Broadcast Satellite, AsiaSat, Astro, Australia Network, Bloomberg Television, Chunghwa Telecom, Discovery Networks Asia, Genesis Networks, Granada International/ITV Worldwide, HBO Asia, Intelsat, Macquarie, MediaFLO Technologies, Motorola, MTV Networks Asia Pacific, Nokia, now TV, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sony Pictures Television International, STAR Group, Sun Microsystems, TrueVisions, Turner International Asia Pacific, Walt Disney Television International, Zonemedia, Al Jazeera, Amarchand Mangaldas, Asian Food Channel, BBC Global Channels Asia-Pacific, Celestial Movies, ESPN STAR Sports, GMA Network Inc., GroupM, Fu Yang Media, HiT Entertainment, Hong Kong Cable, Irdeto, KDB Skylife, Lovells, Measat, MGM Networks, Minter Ellison, National Geographic, Network18, Paul Weiss, Playboy TV, ProtoStar, PT Direct Vision, SAT-GE, Tandberg Television, Tata Sky, Ten Sports, TimeWarner, Viaccess and Zee TV.
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