CASBAA release – APEC/ASEAN on pay-TV piracy

Jakarta, 17 December 2009 – Detailed analysis of the pernicious effects of pay-TV signal theft on economic and social development in Southeast Asia featured strongly throughout a series of government and industry meetings this week in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The CASBAA-coordinated meetings were centered on an APEC and ASEAN symposium which covered the protection of broadcast content with officials drawn from 16 governments from around the Asia-Pacific region.

The first day of the three-day programme was delivered in cooperation with the Indonesian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights and the Indonesian Multimedia Providers’ Association (APMI).

The day opened with Bambang Subijantoro, the Acting Director General of Communications and Means of Dissemination, who outlined a Ministry objective of making the “operating permit” process for cable TV providers in Indonesia “easier and simpler”. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, his department will take action against any remaining illegal operators, he said.

The December 14th programme was followed by a regionally focused “Signal Piracy, Regulation and Enforcement in a Convergent World” symposium with the 16 governments with pay-TV broadcasters such as MTV, Turner Broadcasting, ESPN Star Sports, Celestial Pictures and Newscorp, plus signal security providers Irdeto and Viaccess, pay-TV platform operators Indovision, Cignal and Foxtel as well as the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the Motion Picture Association and European anti-piracy organization AEPOC. This symposium was co-hosted by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).

“The three days of intensive interaction between the APEC and ASEAN officials and the subscription TV industry have been unique in the development of our sector,” said Marcel Fenez, the Chairman of CASBAA. “We greatly look forward to the next stages of this dialogue in 2010.”

Among items covered in Jakarta were the impact of TV piracy on domestic creative industries and investment in networks; the losses incurred by governments in terms of tax revenues foregone from black-market and grey-market commercial piracy; the vast potential damage from mass online piracy of TV content and the need for governments and industry to work cooperatively.

Notes to Members:
1. To download some of the Dec 14th Seminar’s pictures and their captions, click here.
2. To view all pictures of the Seminar on Dec 14th and the “Signal Piracy, Regulation and Enforcement in a Convergent World” Symposium on Dec 15th and 16th, click here.
3. Click to download key presentations on Dec 14 and Dec 15.

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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 130 member organisations in the pay-TV business, which in turn serve more than three billion people. Indonesian members include AORA, First Media, Indovision and Telkomvision.

CASBAA Patron members are Al Jazeera, Asia Broadcast Satellite, AsiaSat, ASTRO, Australia Network, Bloomberg Television, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Disney-ABC International Television (Asia-Pacific), Fox International Channels, Genesis Networks, HBO Asia, Intelsat, Irdeto, ITV Global Entertainment, Macquarie, MTV Networks Asia, NBC Universal Global Networks, NDS, NOW TV, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies, Rainbow Media, SES World Skies, SingTel, Sony Pictures Television, Tiger Gate Entertainment, Tom Group, TrueVisions and Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific. To view the full list of CASBAA members, please visit here.

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For enquiries, please contact:

Rita Vannithone
Marketing & Communications Director, CASBAA
Tel: +852 2854 9940
Email: rita@casbaa.com

Helen Shek
Communications Manager, CASBAA
Tel: +852 2854 9943
Email: helen@casbaa.com

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