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Business

Government urged to step up anti-piracy fight

The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — A consumer advocacy group has renewed its call for the immediate passage of the long-stalled Site Blocking Bill, urging the Senate to follow the lead of nations like South Korea and Indonesia where aggressive anti-piracy laws have delivered real economic benefits and curbed cyber threats.

CitizenWatch Philippines convenor Christopher Belmonte warned that continued inaction is harming Filipino creatives and leaving consumers exposed to online crime.

“South Korea and Indonesia have shown us the playbook,” Belmonte said.

“When we empower our authorities and telcos to shut down piracy websites, we don’t just protect the rights of our intellectual property owners – we protect jobs, bolster the growth of our creative industry and keep our citizens safe.”

A 2024 report by IPHouse published by the Digital Citizens Alliance reveals dramatic drops in piracy-related traffic following site-blocking enforcement in multiple countries: 89 percent in the UK, 70 percent in Portugal, 69 percent in Australia, 98 percent in South Korea and 95 percent in Indonesia. It also found that legal streaming increased in India and Brazil by eight percent and five percent respectively, within a year of implementing anti-piracy strategies.

“These numbers prove that strong anti-piracy measures are integral to a thriving digital economy,” Belmonte said.

“In South Korea, those enforcement efforts helped push content exports to an all-time high $13 billion from K-dramas and films alone. That’s the reward for protecting the creative industry.”

Belmonte said the Philippine creative sector could follow the same trajectory if given the proper legislative backing. He pointed out that the Philippine creative economy contributed P1.72 trillion to GDP in 2023, and yet the industry is being gutted by unchecked online piracy. According to Media Partners Asia, local entertainment lost P781 million in 2022 due to illegal downloads and streams.

He underscored that piracy doesn’t just affect big production studios and celebrities. “It’s the lighting crews, set builders, writers, camera operators and scores of linked services needed in the production of each project. These are hardworking and talented Filipinos who lose income when content is stolen.”

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