CASBAA’s 2012 submission to the US Trade Representative says Indian progress toward cable digitization is “a major advance towards cleaning up” the massive underdeclaration pervading India’s cable TV market. If addressable digitization in India remains on track, CASBAA said, USTR should consider next year removing India from its IPR “Priority Watch List.” Other Asian markets are not doing so well; the CASBAA submission noted continuing problems with signal theft by rogue cable operators in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as mysterious gaps in Taiwan cable declarations and payments. Sadly, it also noted that things are not much improving in China’s huge market, which “has become an Asian center for pay-TV piracy.”
The CASBAA submission to USTR can be downloaded here.