AEPOC targets piracy of audiovisual services in the enlarged E.U.

	Piracy of audiovisual services in France represents the development on the European level
	AEPOC June General Assembly to be held in Bratislava, Slovakia
	2nd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium scheduled for October in Amsterdam

Paris, April 16^th 2004 - At its quarterly Board of Directors meeting held in Paris March 30th 2004, AEPOC, the European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services, discussed among other issues the present situation of piracy of audiovisual services in France. The meeting was hosted by the AEPOC member TPS. TPS is a provider of satellite and IP-based pay TV and media services operating in France. Other French members of the association include Aston France, Canal+, Eutelsat, Sagem, Thomson and Viaccess.

In a comprehensive presentation of the situation in France Gilles Maugars, Chief Technology Officer of TPS, analysed the evolution of piracy devices as one of the driving forces of piracy of audiovisual services. Early, high-priced hacked smart cards which have mainly been traded on the Internet have over time been replaced by polyvalent receivers. Today, the latest generation of pirate receivers contain the necessary chip-sets to decrypt conditional access systems in conjunction with the suitable illegal, non-licensed software. At the same time these devices are increasingly available in traditional retail outlets. Said Jean Grenier, President of AEPOC, "When it comes to the availability of more and more powerful piracy tools France can be taken as an example of the development throughout Europe - including the new Member States. The threat piracy of audiovisual services poses to the future of the media industry is growing at a frightening rate and is becoming more obvious on a daily basis. This is why the Pan-european legal framework must evolve." Among other key points AEPOC works inside the European Union for the punishment of the personal use and possession of illegal decoding devices.

In addition, AEPOC focuses on the adoption and enforcement of the acquis communautaire with regards to piracy of audiovisual services by the new E.U. Member States. To emphasise the importance of this matter AEPOC will hold its next General Assembly and Board of Directors meetings in Bratislava, Slovakia, on June 25, 2004. Given the relatively high degree of violations of intellectual and industrial property rights in these countries compared to the situation in the current E.U. AEPOC calls for an urgent and significant intensification of actions against piracy of audiovisual services by the new Member States.

AEPOC is organising the 2^nd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium in Amsterdam in October 2004 on the occasion of the presidency of the European Union of the Netherlands. After the successful launch of the first such symposium in October 2003 in Vicenza, the event for industry professionals, representatives of law enforcement agencies and the press will again present views on all aspects of piracy of audiovisual services in Europe.

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 31 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: Aston, BskyB, Canal+, Canal+ Polska, comvenient, Conax, Digiturk, Eutelsat, Humax, Irdeto Access, Motorola, Nagravision, NDS, Nokia, NTV-Plus, Pace, Philips, Premiere, Raisat, Sagem, SCM Microsystems, Showtime Arabia, SkyItalia, Sogecable, Thomson, TPS, TVCabo, UGC Europe, Viaccess - France Telecom, Viasat Broadcasting and WELA Electronic.

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