Casbaa initiates Philippine piracy order
by Kenny Lim Media Asia 30-Jun-08, 04:48
MANILA - Filipino authorities have issued a landmark restraining order against pirate cable operator, Turtle Cable, for copyright infringement.
The order, issued by the country’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO), prevents the pirate broadcaster from redistributing international cable channels to which it does not own programme rights. It is the result of several complaints brought by the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) on behalf of the programme makers.
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This is the first time we have brought a cable piracy case to the IPO, and we are pleased that the IPO administrative judge has recognized the validity of the TV industry’s concerns about protecting our intellectual property, said Simon Twiston Davies (pictured), chief executive officer of CASBAA.
Cable piracy remains rampant in the Philippines, and the government is beginning to recognize how damaging this is for the entire legitimate industry, said Timothy Bautista, COO of Cable Boss. We are pleased to see this first sign of concrete action."
Davies added that cable piracy had cost the industry US$85 million dollars in annual revenue in 2007 and would also deprive authorities of US$38 million in tax payments that could be used for development programs.
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