Content piracy costs Mena industry $500m a year, OSN chief says
Game launched to show content theft is ‘biggest threat to creative companies’
Piracy is costing the entertainment industry in the Middle East US$500 million a year, said OSN’s chief executive as he launched a game aimed at highlighting the consequences of piracy.
Despite the continued efforts of authorities and big industry players such as OSN, Martin Stewart said it remained a huge issue for his pay TV network.
“The entertainment industry’s biggest problem is piracy. Illegal theft of content is the biggest danger to the future of creative industries across the world. Here in the Middle East, we suffer from it,” Mr Stewart said.
“The impact is many tens of millions, if not billions, of dollars on a global basis. The threat of piracy is on recorded music, films, TV shows and video games. Anything that people can put online is capable of being stolen. And let’s not forget illegal satellite boxes and illegal streaming. There are all sorts of different ways that content can be stolen.”
Last year a Dubai court convicted an illegal internet TV provider in a first for the region, and OSN praised the conviction as an unprecedented victory. The network has also joined with authorities in the GCC, Egypt and Jordan to conduct hundreds of anti-piracy raids that have resulted in unauthorised operators being fined, shops closed and equipment confiscated.
In addition to digital piracy, the UAE has a problem with illegal satellite boxes, often for the South Asian market.
Crackdowns by departments of economic development, in collusion with OSN, have been seen across the Emirates in the past, resulting in hefty fines and deportation orders for those illegally selling Dish TV India, TataSky, Sun Direct, Airtel and Reliance decoders, which are unauthorised and unlicensed in the Mena region. Authorities have also warned against the use of illegal cables, hybrid decoders and digital piracy.
“Pirated material is a not victimless crime. The Middle East region as a whole is losing hundreds of millions,” Mr Stewart said.
“It is not about just downloading the content and it is not hurting anybody. It is hurting too many people whose jobs depend upon creating the content. If we do not make sure that people are fairly rewarded, then there will not be that content in the future, so it is important to pass a message on about the importance of content and intellectual property and that’s why we are targeting the youth through a game called Copycat Combat.”
The 60-second game is a collaboration between OSN and Dubai Customs.
“What we are trying to do today with Copycat Combat is to explain to people the consequences of piracy. When a player wins the game, it says thanks for your actions because you managed to beat the pirates. That’s the whole message,” Mr Stewart said.
The game is part of KidZania at Dubai Mall and it is just one strand of a multipronged attack on pirates.
“The Government and concerned entities stand against illegal activity whenever we see it. Most of this illegal activity is run by organised criminal gangs. This is not somebody just doing something for fun,” Mr Stewart said.
Pirated material is not a victimless crime. The Middle East region as a whole is losing hundreds of millions MARTIN STEWART OSN’s chief executive