European Anti-Piracy Association sees growth of media industry at stake

	3rd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium in London attracted participants and contributors from 13 nations
	European Commission called on to protect intellectual property as key to prosperity, cultural diversity and democratic plurality

London - December 8^th 2005 - The European Anti-Piracy Association AEPOC has called on the Broadcast and IP Broadband industries to join forces to fight piracy: At the 3^rd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium held in London on November 22^nd, contributors and participants from 13 nations regarded the rise of IP technologies for content distribution as a new challenge for the technological, legal and political protection of intellectual property. In his keynote address, AEPOC President Jean Grenier, reminded the European Commission that piracy not only puts growth of the media and telecom industries at stake: "The protection of intellectual property is the key to future prosperity, but also to cultural diversity and democratic plurality". Jean Grenier referred to EU commissioner Viviane Reding who had suggested to the industry to create platforms that are "attractive enough to compete with pirated works available for free on peer-to-peer networks." Jean Grenier commented: "The European Commission should not accept piracy as an inevitable side-effect of IP technology, but introduce a legal framework that safeguards growth, creativity and freedom in the digital age". Jean Grenier's speech, the symposium presentations and press photos can be downloaded from AEPOC's website www.aepoc.org.

Piracy linked to terrorism and drug networks

Moderators Jeremy Thompson, Sky News, and Nick Snow, Euromedia, led through the presentations and panel discussions comprising representatives of distinguished international associations and companies: Luc Perrault, Vice President of Canadian organisation CASST - Coalition Against Satellite Signal Theft - presented an overview on the successful anti-piracy combat in Canada, a nation with a highly advanced market penetration of cable, satellite and IP broadband networks and services. Determined legislation, prosecution and the active support of own investigation teams at CASST makes Canada an international showcase for anti-piracy strategies. Raymond Leinster of UK association FACT - Federation Against Copyright Theft - revealed how piracy is linked to international drug and terrorism networks: "The distribution of pirated content and piracy devices is often played down as a hobby of computer geeks, however it increasingly contributes to the financing of terror organisations as drug- and people-trafficking."

Michael J. Barley of BSkyB pointed out the value of partnerships and the use of intelligence to always stay ahead of the pirates. Andrew Curle of Irdeto gave an overview of new forms of piracy threatening the rise of multi-play content distribution such as DTT, Mobile and IPTV. Andreas Rudloff of Premiere analysed the details of IP-based piracy such as Card Sharing, creating new challenges for legal investigations. All experts agreed on the need for an European legal framework, national investigations and prosecution that keeps up with the new technological challenges put up by the IP-based technologies. Jean Grenier summarized: "We need to change attitudes towards piracy - the attitude of political decision-makers, law-makers and the public in general who often regard content theft as a sport, rather than a severe offence. Creating a cultural shift about piracy is a target that requires the commitment and active endeavours of all players in the industry. We invite all new players to follow the example of AEPOC and jointly support the combat against piracy on all levels".

The day before the symposium, AEPOC held its Ordinary General Assembly and Board of Directors Meeting to outline the strategies and activities of the association in 2006. Hosted by AEPOC member BSkyB, an extensive action plan has been approved for the year 2006. Along AEPOC's Board of Directors and General Assemblies meetings to be held across Europe, the association will proactively participate in major exhibitions and congresses such as Content Everywhere 2006, IBC and SAT Expo, and organize the 4th Annual AEPOC Anti-Piracy Symposium.

AEPOC shall also work intensively on the finalisation of the EU Commission Report on the Status of Implementation of the Conditional Access Directive expected for the second half of 2006. Multi-level co-operation reaching from international bodies such as OECD and EBU as well as close collaboration with institutes and several universities will be an important element of year 2006 measures.

The first of the two AEPOC General Assemblies during 2006 will take place in May in the city of Copenhagen.

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See www.aepoc.org for further details and documents on the 3rd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium:

• Agenda
• Keynote Address of Jean Grenier
• Presentations
• Press Pictures

EUROMEDIA has published a special issue in association with AEPOC "The price of piracy: more than money", covering news, in-depth background reports on the financial and cultural impact of piracy, a global round-up and contact addresses. To receive a copy free of charge, please contact Susbauer PR, Yasmin Gloede by email: y.gloede@susbauer.de

AEPOC (www.aepoc.org) is the "Association Européenne pour la Protection des Œuvres et Services Cryptés" or the "European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services". AEPOC started its activities in 1995. Its current membership consists of 35 leading digital television and telecommunication companies including TV channels, conditional access providers, providers of transmission infrastructures and manufacturers of related hardware. AEPOC's goal is to eliminate the pirating of encrypted works and services and to encourage the development of the appropriate legal, operational and technological frameworks to increase the security and safeguarding of conditional access systems for Pay-TV, TV-based and IP services.

The AEPOC members are: ADD Europe, AL MAJD, Aston, Atmel, BSkyB, Canal+, Canal+ Polska, comvenient, Conax, Digiturk, Eutelsat, Humax, Hutro, Infineon Technologies, Irdeto, Liberty Global, Motorola, Nagravision, NDS, Nokia, NTV-Plus, Opentech, Pace, Philips, Premiere, Sagem, SCM Microsystems, Showtime Arabia, Sky Italia, Sogecable, Thomson, TPS, TVCabo, Viaccess - France Telecom, and WELA Electronic.

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