AEPOC re-elects Jean Grenier President

	The moving spirit of the European association will continue to co-ordinate the industry's efforts against piracy of audiovisual services
	Opentech joins AEPOC
	Concerns about piracy levels in the new E.U. member states

Bratislava, June 29^th 2004 - AEPOC, the European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services, held its Ordinary General Assembly in Bratislava on June 25th 2004. The meeting was hosted by the AEPOC member UPC Slovakia, the leading pay-TV operator in this new E.U. member state.

At the assembly the association held elections for its executive bodies. Jean Grenier was unanimously re-elected President of the association for a regular term of 3 years. Mr. Grenier has served AEPOC as President since 1998. Under his leadership the association grew to 31 member companies representing all sectors of the audiovisual services industry. Today AEPOC is a recognised advisor of the E.U. Commission and national authorities for all questions regarding piracy of audiovisual services. Under Mr. Grenier's presidency the association became the anti-piracy voice of the industry in Europe by continuously putting piracy on the agenda of public and industry debates. "While I am pleased with what we have achieved in the last few years in terms of co-ordinating common initiatives of our sector against piracy, I am still alarmed about the increasing threat of piracy to the cultural and economical performance of our industry. Much remains to be done to improve legal and operational frameworks. We will continue to raise our voice and get on with our constructive dialogues throughout Europe," said Mr. Grenier.

At the Bratislava assembly Alastair Mc Neil of Canal+ has been elected Vice-President of AEPOC joining Mathias Bendull of Comvenient and Mathieu Goudsmits of Philips. Furthermore, Dr. Manfred Müller of SCM Microsystems has been elected new member of the Board of Directors of the association.

The Ordinary General Assembly also adopted the new AEPOC Code of Ethics and Good Practice, which is to become effective July 1st 2004.

At the Bratislava meeting the admission to the association of the conditional access technology vendor Opentech was approved (www.opentech.co.kr).

In addition, the Bratislava meeting focused on the adoption and enforcement of the acquis communautaire with regard to piracy of audiovisual services by the new E.U. member states. Given the comparatively large number of violations of intellectual and industrial property rights in these countries compared to the situation in the current E.U., AEPOC calls for an immediate and significant intensification of actions against piracy by the new member states. A presentation by Martin Mataseje, CEO of hosting UPC Slovakia, examplarily described the present situation in the new member countries. Despite existing anti-piracy laws it remains a challenge to sensitise the judiciary and to educate the public that piracy is theft, explained Mr. Mataseje.

The next AEPOC meeting will be held in Amsterdam in October 21st 2004 in conjunction with the 2nd AEPOC European Anti-Piracy Symposium.

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, Opentech, Pace, Philips, Premiere, Sagem, SCM Microsystems, Showtime Arabia, SkyItalia, Sogecable, Thomson, TPS, TVCabo, UGC Europe, Viaccess - France Telecom, Viasat Broadcasting and WELA Electronic.

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