Blocking pirate sites might not be a permanent solution to illegal downloading in Asia.
But there’s every indication that it’s a very fine place to start.

In the U.K., Sky Broadband just became the latest platform to block user access to file sharingsite, The Pirate Bay. Others– including BT – are expected to follow the U.K. High Court ruling that found the Swedish site facilitated copyright infringement.

Announcing its decision at the end of May, Sky said it had invested billions of pounds “in high-quality entertainment…because we know how much our customers value it. It’s therefore important that companies like ours do what they can, alongside the government and the rest of the media and technology industries, to help protect their copyright”.

Asia has a scary share ofcountries punching well above their weight in global illegal download rankings… and the pressure is mounting all round to block sites that infringe copyright.

The idea is a multi-pronged push that includes ISPs big and small, pay-TV providers and regulators, among others. Even if some of them are dragged into it kicking and screaming, regulators have to be involved to ensure all ISPs apply site-blocking measures equally, and not only those with content interests.

Meanwhile, the stats remain staggering.

Eleven of the top 50 countries in the world – 22% – for infringing English-language TV shows by volume are in Asia.

China tops the global list, with Australia in fourth spot, Philippines in 10th, India at 11th, Malaysia at 19th and South Korea at 23rd. Singapore, a country of 1.1 million homes, is 24th in the world (and Asia’s top culprit on a per capita basis). Hong Kong is at 38th spot, with Indonesia in 45th place and Japan coming in at 48th.

So far, regulators in Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Korea have sanctioned pirate-site blocking. This month, Korea implemented a cyberlocker registration rule.

Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan haven’t – yet – and are in the anti-piracy lobby’s cross-hairs.

Insiders say Singapore is an easy one, with no changes to the law required and major ISPs already behind the move to block pirate sites and protect their subscription revenues.

One of Singapore’s major providers, StarHub says it is concerned by the growth in online piracy. StarHub has 440,000 broadband subscribers and 544,000 pay-TV subscribers.

“We believe that site-blocking (as has been implemented in Malaysia and in several other countries) could help to address this problem,” says Iris Wee, StarHub’s Vice President of Home Solutions & Content.

But, she adds, “we believe that it is necessary for all ISPs to block the pirate sites, and that this could be implemented via a government obligation to block”.

Singapore’s other leading broadband provider, SingTel, is yet to tell us about its stand on site blocking, but insiders say the telco, which also has a major interest in pay-TV content, is all for it.

The Singapore government itself is absolutely 100% committed to IP protection and is in the midst of expanding Singapore’s role as an IP hub for Asia.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Law spoke candidly in Parliament about the country’s worst ranking in online piracy, saying too that six of the top 100 sites visited from Singapore were rogue overseas sites.

So what’s the hold up? That bit is not really clear. Or not to us at least.

One of the arguments that is being made everywhere is that site blocking doesn’t work for longer than the minutes it takes pirate sites to change their names and redirect their traffic.

At the same time, there is ample evidence from digital measurement and research agencies that shows site blocking – whatever the debate over its long-term effectiveness – makes a difference. At least in the short term.

A surprisingly small number of sites are responsible for the bulk of illegal downloads. The site-blocking lobby is using this to make the case that blocking just a few sites could bring down illegal downloads by up to 80%.

Last year, Mark Monitor’s “Traffic Report: Online Piracy and Counterfeiting,” said there were more than 53 billion visits per year to just 43 digital piracy sites. Just three sites at that time (rapidshare, megaupload and megavideo) were responsible for about 40% of that traffic.

In Singapore, 16 sites contribute to the bulk of the problem with illegal downloads, including thepiratebay, which is 82nd on Singapore’s list of top 100 sites. According to Amazon’s Alexa Rankings, thepiratebay ranks higher than Golden Village movie theatre site (at 90th place) and pay-TV provider StarHub (at 92).

If just these 16 were blocked, a significant percentage of the country’s problems with illegal downloading could disappear in the near term, say those in the know.

The problem is by no means confined to Singapore – and it in no way will be eradicated totally by site blocking. But, in the great big overwhelming and never-ending battle being fought, it’s a good place to start.

Article reprinted courtesy of ContentAsia

June 1, 2012 – With a range of television options that run the gamut from OTT to DTH, the main video markets are now offering a wealth of different dynamics and opportunities. As with natural geography, the Asian video landscape varies widely, depending on where you are.

Across the board, there seem to be a few hard and fast “truths” to what is happening in Asia’s video sector. Parts of the region are on the verge of explosive growth. Content consumption is on the rise and in demand from a strong demographic. Satellite will remain an important part of every facet of the video market because of its unmatched ability to distribute content to people located in remote or less populated areas.

Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of CASBAA, says that Asia has the advantage of continued economic growth. “With an average of about 8 percent across the region, with some fluctuation depending on the country, Asia has an increasingly informed media market with positive demographics coming through. People under the age of 30 are driving consumption for increased media services and options and satellite technology provides the ultimate backhaul for it. Video is gradually migrating from analog to digital format and migration from SD to HD content is becoming more standard, which is driving usage of satellite capacity and demand.”

Read the full story at http://www.satellitetoday.com/broadband/applications/11/The-Asian-Video-Landscape-DTH-Market-Share-Trending-Up_38819.html

NEW DELHI (May 30, 2012): All applications for operating television channels or teleports have been given only 30 days from 25 May to furnish performance bank guarantee (PBG) and the permission fee as applicable.

An additional 15 days could be given only under exceptional circumstances, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said.

It has clarified that no extension or correspondence will be entertained thereafter and those who fail to submit the PBG would not be given permission by the Ministry.

Earlier at the time of issuing the new Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines on 5 December last year, the Ministry had said applications that are at various stages of processing for permission to operate television channels or teleports will be given a period of three months to ‘ensure conformity’ to the new Guidelines.

This followed a Delhi High Court order which had said time should be given till 23 March 2012 for those who had applied before 5 December 2011.

Read the full story at http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k12/may/may256.php

June 1, 2012 – To get it out of the doldrums it remains in, 3D needs as much help as possible and the latest leg-up has been given by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the United Nations agency for information and communication technology.

The ITU has drafted a series of recommendations, submitted to its Administrations for accelerated approval, on 3DTV that are intended to promote the further use of this format worldwide and which the ITU hopes will provide much needed tools to evaluate, make, and exchange 3DTV programmes. The ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has developed the standards in collaboration with experts from the television industry, broadcasting organisations and regulatory institutions in its Study Group 6.

In detail, the new ITU-R Recommendations focus on 720p and 1080i/p HDTV 3DTV programme production and broadcasting with recommendations also agreed on the digital interfaces used in studios for 3DTV programme production, and on the general requirements for 3DTV. The ITU-R Study Group 6 also agreed a Recommendation for the methods to evaluate the quality of 3DTV images, which relates to three aspects, or quality factors: picture quality, depth, and comfort levels.

Read the full story at http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012060122188/itu-drafts-new-recommendations-to-boost-3dtv.html?utm_source=newsletter_687&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rapid-tv-news-current-edition-0106#ixzz1wXA8siho

June 1, 2012 – A new report from leading management consultant McKinsey is warning that beyond the hype the maturity of connected TV and most importantly the consumer appeal of its value proposition are questionable.

The company based its conclusions on research conducted in France and the UK, McKinsey assessed the smart TV opportunity and determined how TV manufacturers, media/content providers, and telecoms operators should prepare for this new battleground.

Concurring with other recent reports McKinsey concluded that from a supply side at least, the transition to connected TV seems unstoppable in the two markets and calculates that Internet connectivity in TV sets is slowly but surely becoming a mainstream feature. Given the current growth of TV sales, it expects the installed base of Internet-enabled TVs to grow 70% each year to reach over 500 million devices by 2015.

Read the full story at http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012060122187/smart-tv-maybe-too-smart-to-win-over-consumers.html?utm_source=newsletter_687&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rapid-tv-news-current-edition-0106#ixzz1wX90I44D

June 1, 2012 – In a matter of only months, ‘second screen’ has made the transition from being a mere conversation topic to an established part of the TV ecosystem new research from Futuresource Consulting is suggesting.

The analyst believes that the key drivers for what it describes as an explosion have been the emergence firstly of mass market smartphones and then, and perhaps more significantly as far as video applications are concerned, the arrival of tablets led by the iPad.

Moreover, the firm’s projections show that smartphone and tablet ownership growth is not being interrupted by the economic hardship currently endured in Europe and so the usage of a second screen device is going to expand. Tablet ownership is for instance set to grow more than fourfold.

Futuresource’s recently released Living With Digital research found that 62% of respondents say they use interactive devices while watching TV, with laptops and mobile phones topping the list of most commonly used equipment, and tablets rising fast. This figure rises to 85% of 16 to 18 year olds, and even more than half of 56 to 65 year olds use a second screen.

Read the full story at http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012060122184/second-screen-now-the-norm-in-tv.html?utm_source=newsletter_687&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rapid-tv-news-current-edition-0106#ixzz1wX7fzdgM

May 26 2012 – WiMAX, wireless connection provider for internet and Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB) have engaged in a blame game over a new problem in which television images are blurred in certain region across the country.

Meanwhile, a couple of international satellite communications industry have come and liaised with COAB in accusing WiMAX for the problem in which viewers of satellite television channels often cannot see proper images on the screen of their sets, officials at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said.

The cable operators and their supporters have claimed a recent field-study revealed that sharing of the same bandwidth of wireless frequency-range by the satellite television channels and the internet service providers is the main cause of disruption to the dissatisfaction of TV viewers across the country.

The same bandwidth is used for transmitting satellite television signals to the cable operators and the WiMAX for providing internet service to users, causing interference in operations of each others.

Meanwhile, WiMAX operators said for the interference of satellite television service providers, their clients often miss internet connections.

As the disruption has become acute, local cable operators and a couple of international satellite communications industry have jointly called upon the relevant authorities to place internet providers to another less crowded frequency-range or the bandwidth.

The disruption in viewing satellite television is being caused by the technical interference of the wireless broadband operators using newly introduced “WiMAX” technology, said a cable operator.

The Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (COAB), the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and the World Broadcasting Unions – International Satellite Operations Group (WBU-ISOG), have jointly urged the relevant authorities in Bangladesh to solve the problem being faced by millions of viewers across the country.

The call was made unanimously by the stakeholders at a meeting in Dhaka last waeek, hosted by APT Satellite, a Hong Kong-based satellite operator.

APT Satellite has recently conducted extensive field tests to confirm that the source of the interference is from WiMAX operators, said a COAB leader.

APT now provides satellite capacity to most of the television channels in Bangladesh.

The resolutions of the meeting were endorsed by CASBAA and the GVF who exchanged views and information with Bangladeshi industry and relevant government officials, officials at the BTRC said.

Experts of the ATP said the trouble started soon after the relevant authorities had allowed WiMAX to use the 3.5 GHz range, that earlier used to distribute satellite television services across the country and the rest of the region.

If the problem continues, millions of viewers will be deprived of services from cable operators of the satellite television channels, the operators said.

“For instance, the largely unanticipated implications of the introduction of WiMAX services at 3.5 GHz is causing widespread transmission failures throughout the country and can be especially serious for news broadcasters which use the lower end of the Standard C-band spectrum” Gregg Daffner, Chairman of CASBAA’s Wireless Action Group said in a statement on Thursday.

However, the cable operators and the satellite television channel industry leaders think that the relevant authorities could easily solve this serious problem by migrating wireless operators to different bandwidth.

“However, there is a solution to this very serious problem,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF. “The interfering WiMAX services can use other, less crowded frequencies.”

In other markets, WiMAX operators have successfully migrated from the 3.5GHz band, “so we know we can resolve the crisis in Bangladesh,” said Hartshorn.

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=130750&date=2012-05-26

2012/05/30/ – Ooyala, a provider of digital video technology, analytics and services, has released its Q1 2012 Video Index report revealing current global trends in digital video consumption. Among the findings, the report demonstrates dramatically increased viewer engagement across web-connected devices; more time spent online with premium, long-form entertainment; and evolving time-of-day and day-of-week consumption patterns across mobile and tablet devices.

For example, for the first time, long-form content – videos longer than ten minutes in length – accounted for over half the content consumed between the 1st January and the 31st March 2012, across Ooyala’s footprint of nearly 200 million monthly viewers worldwide. This means people are spending more time than ever watching full-length TV shows, feature films and sporting events, while time viewed in short bursts is decreasing as a percentage of overall consumption.

“There is a fundamental shift in the way people are viewing television. Consumers now have the power to choose their own prime time,” said Jay Fulcher, CEO, Ooyala. “The spike in tablet and smartphone viewing during weekend nights and commutes shows how the living room experience is fragmenting across devices. Smart publishers and advertisers can use analytics like those Ooyala provides to understand which revenue strategies work best as these trends continue to evolve.”

Other highlights from the report include:
– The overall share of time watched on smartphones grew by 41 per cent last quarter, while the share of time watched on tablets grew by 32 per cent
– On a typical weekday, a full third of tablet video plays occur between 7pm and

11pm, while only about 17 per cent of PC plays take place over that same period
– Viewers on connected TVs watch nearly a third more video between 4pm and 11pm on Saturdays than on a typical weekday evening
– Power viewers emerge: ten per cent of a publisher’s audience watches more than five of its videos in a given day
– Following Apple’s March iPad release, the amount of video watched on tablets jumped 26 per cent. iPads presently account for 95 per cent of tablet video viewing
– Many publishers can significantly improve revenue by increasing ad load and employing more mid-roll ads, especially on longer videos

http://advanced-television.com/index.php/2012/05/30/ooyala-online-video-kills-tv-schedule/

Cambridge, Massachusetts- May 30, 2012- Pyramid Research expects that pay TV accounts will surpass the 1 billion mark in 2014 globally, with cable accounting for 58 percent of the total accounts, down from 66 percent in 2011, according to Pyramid Research’s bi-annual Media Forecast released recently. By end-2014, IPTV subscriptions will exceed 100 million, and IPTV over fiber networks is expected to contribute a larger share of the total IPTV subscriptions in 2017.

More information at http://www.pyr.com/pr_prlist/global-pay-tv-forecast.htm

May 31, 2012 – Independent online video technology company Tremor Video has unveiled research that indicates viewers are no longer confining content to specific devices in era of seamless connectivity, with tablet and Connected TV viewing on the rise.

The study, conducted in partnership with research-based strategic consulting firm Frank N Magid Associates, suggests that viewers are moving seamlessly across devices and accessing video content wherever they are, no matter the device, and that viewers have entered a connected content culture where they expect entertainment regardless of space, time, networks or creators.

Among the key findings of the study – commissioned to understand how viewers access video content on different devices and in different – are the fact that 52 per cent of all smartphone video is viewed at home, with peak viewing hours between the hours of 5 and 11 pm., mirroring TV peaks and indicating that viewing on mobile platforms is no longer confined to ‘mobile’ behaviours. Smartphone viewers have historically gravitated toward short-form content, but long-form video now accounts for nearly 40 per cent of smartphone video viewing every week.

Read the full story at http://advanced-television.com/index.php/2012/05/31/half-smartphone-video-consumption-in-the-home/