Anti-Piracy Coalition to crack down on pirate satellite TV service providers
For the first time in the region, leading broadcasters, satellite operators and service providers across the MENA have joined forces under the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition,’ to address and combat all forms of piracy that impact the sector.
Key industry players including OSN, Motion Picture Association of America (MPA), MBC Group, du, STN, JMC, Nilesat, Arabsat, Noorsat, Eutelsat, and Viewsat will work alongside content owners, distributors, satellite owners, satellite service providers, and advertisers, to raise awareness about the impact of piracy on the region’s burgeoning television industry.
Driven by a common goal to protect intellectual property rights, members of the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ have outlined a voluntary code of conduct, while publically associating themselves as active representatives of the coalition.
The ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ will monitor piracy on satellite TV, ensure information about pirate channels is shared among legitimate industry players and coordinate action against the pirates.
Sam Barnett, Chief Executive Officer, MBC Group, added: “Pirate channels are stealing hundreds of movies a week and broadcasting them across tens of millions of homes."
"But, the really surprising fact is that a few otherwise respectable companies are assisting and supporting them to do this. Our coalition will help raise awareness of the issue, galvanise support from the legitimate industry and hopefully make life tougher for the pirates,” he added.
While several broadcasters have been active in contributing to the fight against piracy, the formation of the ‘Anti-Piracy Coalition’ underlines the growing need to address the effects of piracy in all forms.
Previously, piracy had been seen to affect pay-TV operators, however today, the entire broadcast industry in the Middle East and North Africa are at risk.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Have you had experiences with pirate satellite TV providers in Qatar?
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I'm not sure what they have in mind. I would guess that they will be finding out ways to stop the sale of counterfeit smart cards for tv receivers/decoders. Perhaps arrest the shopkeepers who are distributing the fake cards.
Let's wait and see, but the culture of just stealing free tv, movies, music etc either from the internet or from the satellite has to end. It's theft. There is no other word for it.
will there be any direct or indirect impact on the AIRTEL or any other Satellite TV connections used in Qatar.
Next step will be for Ooredoo to block the sites that allow people to illegally download tv shows and movies.