Hong Kong, July 5, 2005 — The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), the industry association for pay-TV content providers, platform operators and technology companies in the Asia Pacific, today welcomed a decision by the Australian government to criminalise the act of dishonestly accessing pay-TV services throughout Australia.
“Australia has made a forward-looking decision on this important question,” said CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies. “The pay-TV industry can only thrive if people who enjoy our content pay a fair price for it. This ensures that everyone across the value chain C from the cable-TV installer to the actors, athletes, musicians and news reporters who create our content C earns a fair return on their labours.”
CASBAA hopes Australias decision will be replicated by other governments in the region which do not already treat pay-TV signal theft as a crime.
“Australias leadership position in terms of transparent, even-handed regulation is a key indicator of the direction our industry needs to take across the Asia-Pacific,” said Mr Twiston Davies. “The Australian government statement that criminal penalties should be available against those who access Pay TV broadcasts without authorization, sets a new benchmark for the industry.”
CASBAA believes the governance and protection of intellectual property rights will play an increasingly important role in encouraging economic growth across Asia and is already one of the criteria utilized by the international investment community to determine which markets receive foreign direct investment.
The Association notes that while A$50 million (US$37.5 million) is estimated to be lost on an annual basis to pay-TV piracy in Australia, the figures for the rest of the region are even more startling: in Hong Kong it was US$25 million in 2004; in Thailand it was US$141 million; in the Philippines it was US$70; and in Taiwan it was US$114 million.
“These figures for revenue leakage from an industry which is just ten years old in many markets are a matter of grave concern,” added Mr Twiston Davies. “If the industry and the community-at-large are to gain genuine benefit from pay-TV services the tolerance of signal theft must tackled head-on.”
CONTACT
For further information, please contact:
Ms Rebecca KENNEDY
Communications, CASBAA
Tel: (852) 2854 9913
Email: pr@casbaa.com
ABOUT CASBAA
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia is an industry-based advocacy group dedicated to the promotion of multi-channel television via cable, satellite, broadband and wireless video networks across the Asia-Pacific. CASBAA represents some 120 Asia-based corporations, which in turn serve more than 3 billion people. Member organisations include ABC Asia Pacific, Sky News Australia, Two Way TV, ASTRO, Bloomberg Television, Discovery Networks Asia, EMC, HBO Asia, AETN (The History Channel), IBM, MTV Networks Asia Pacific, Nokia, now Broadband TV, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sony Pictures Television International, STAR Group, Sun Microsystems, Turner International Asia Pacific, UBC, Walt Disney Television International, ABN AMRO, Anytime, AsiaSat, BBC Prime, BBC World, Channel News Asia, CNBC, Freshfields, HSBC, Irdeto Access, Loft Communications, Loral Skynet, Mindshare, Time Warner and TOM Group