Coalition Against Piracy to target Illicit Streaming Devices (ISDs) in Asia

HONG KONG - CASBAA, a trade body serving Asia’s Pay-TV industry, has formed a Coalition Against Piracy to co-ordinate industry resources in the fight against rampant content theft. Neil Gane, an industry veteran in content protection, has been appointed General Manager. He will direct CAP enforcement actions to disrupt, diminish and dismantle pirate enterprises across the region.

The Coalition Against Piracy includes leading video content creators and distributors in Asia. Members are: beIN Sports, CASBAA, The Walt Disney Company, Fox Networks Group, HBO Asia, NBCUniversal, Premier League, Turner Asia-Pacific, A&E Networks, Astro, BBC Worldwide, Media Partners Asia, National Basketball Association, PCCW Media, Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia, True Visions, TV5MONDE, and Viacom International Media Networks.

John Medeiros, Chief Policy Officer at CASBAA, said CAP wouid focus on addressing the growing threat of illicit streaming devices (ISDs) and apps, which facilitated massive piracy of movies, sports, TV series and other creative video content.

Gane who was previously with the Hong Kong police force, said Asia Pacific has some of the worst rates of online piracy in the world. He said unprecedented growth in delivery of legal creative content over global broadband networks is being undermined by a surge in the sale of TV boxes with pre-loaded infringing applications.

Analysts are forecasting market growth in online video and broadband distribution of more than 20% over the next five years.  www.casbaa.com (ATI).