Blog Post
AAPA’s position on the European Parliament own initiative report on the implementation the geo-blocking Regulation
AAPA
5 July 2023
1)
Geo-blocking technologies are key to protect exclusive territorial licenses
• Currently, audiovisual services providing access to high-value and premium content (sport, films, high-end drama or entertainment) are marketed on the basis of exclusive territorial licences.
• Exclusive territorial licenses allow rights holders to negotiate and sell distribution rights on a territory-by-territory basis, allowing them to accommodate the different viewing preferences within the EU by meeting the specific cultural and linguistic demands in each Member State, at a price which reflects the popularity of the content in each territory.
• Geo-blocking technologies help preserve this licensing model by preventing unauthorized cross-border access to content.
2) The financing of the whole European audiovisual ecosystem depends on the preservation of the exclusive territorial licensing model
• Exclusive territorial licenses represent the most efficient and beneficial model for the European cultural, creative and sports sector. This model continues to underpin the financing of new film and audiovisual content production in the EU, in particular by enabling presales and preserving the value of future distribution rights.
• A recent study
estimated that the end of geo-blocking would have a negative impact on content production with an output reduction of 48% per year for TV content as well as a loss in revenue for producers of up to €8.2 billion euros per year.
• As recognised by the European Parliament’s own research service
in May 2023, “the sector is strongly reliant on the current financing and licensing model and the extension of the scope of the Regulation would have considerable consequences for the economic sustainability of the sector”.
3) Banning geo-blocking technologies for audiovisual services would not benefit consumers
• A ban of geo-blocking for audiovisual services would end the territorial licensing model, leading de facto to a pan-European licensing model. This model would benefit to the largest media corporations in Europe or major new entrants from outside Europe who would be the only entities in capacity to bid or afford pan European licenses. The number of potential broadcasters willing to invest would be significantly reduced. One of these outcomes could result in disproportionate levels of market power being wielded by such corporations within the EU, resulting in higher prices for consumers.
• Furthermore, the end of geo-blocking would not significantly improve consumer welfare given that, less than 15% of consumers surveyed have tried to access audiovisual content for users in another EU country according to a 2019 Eurobarometer survey.
• As a matter of fact, geo-blocking technologies are a source of dissatisfaction only for consumers who want to access audiovisual content for free.
• According to a recent study
, a ban on geo-blocking extended to audiovisual content would lead to a €9.3 billion loss in consumer welfare.
4) Banning geo-blocking for audiovisual services is not a response to the growing piracy of audiovisual content in the EU
• As shown in a research
from Synamedia , the main driver for piracy of audiovisual content is the price of the legal offer which is considered too high by some users
• Given a ban on geoblocking would likely lead to a more expensive legal offer for consumers, we could anticipate that this would also result in a higher level of piracy of audiovisual content.
• Banning geo-blocking technologies would undermine an already difficult fight against the piracy of audiovisual content across the EU, since no harmonised framework exists at EU level to tackle audiovisual copyright infringements in a meaningful way.
• Ultimately, putting an end to geo-blocking would have damaging consequences for the whole audiovisual industry at a time when our sector is already undermined by all types of piracy and particularly by the piracy of live content.
Geo-blocking technologies
refer to the use of technical measures and tools to restrict or control access to online content or services based on the geographic location of the user. These technologies employ various methods to identify and determine the user's location, for example through their IP address, and then enforce access restrictions based on predetermined rules or criteria.
Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance member, NOS , marks World IP Day with a powerful campaign to eliminate piracy. Spread the message!
The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has announced the 2023 awards given to an individual or team from the public sector for a successful initiative which supports the fight against audiovisual piracy. These are the 6th awards and were presented today at the Europol Intellectual Property Crime conference in Lisbon. The winner of the 2023 award is the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (Fiscale inlichtingen- en opsporingsdienst, FIOD) for taking down an illegal Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service with over 1, 000, 000 users across Europe. On 23 May 2023, a series of raids were carried out across the Netherlands as part of an illegal streaming crackdown. The officers from the FIOD searched properties in various locations in The Netherlands. This operation also saw the closure of Globe Data Centre which distributed the illegal services. Commenting on the award Sheila Cassells, Executive Vice President of AAPA, said: “ The scale of this operation illustrates clearly why law enforcement must continue to act against illegal IPTV services. And the inclusion and closure of a major hosting provider reinforces the need for a clear and robust regulatory regime, including, for example, know you customer requirements, to be imposed on such actors. ” AAPA introduced a new category this year, giving an award to a public sector body acting in the Europol IP Crime conference host country, namely Portugal. The first such award was presented to Inspeção Geral das Atividades. Culturais (IGAC) and its General Inspector Luis Silveira Botelho. The award recognised the role played by IGAC in developing and implementing a comprehensive system of blocking orders under the framework provided by the law that entered into force on February 2022. This law regulates to control, remove and/or prevent access to illegal content, allowing, inter alia, for the imposition of blocking orders on ISPs also, thereby preventing the end user from gaining access to the illegal website or streaming service. Mark Mulready, Co-President of AAPA and VP, Cyber Services at Irdeto said: “In presenting this award, we are pleased to acknowledge the steps taken in Portugal to implement an efficient and dynamic system for blocking orders. We have seen from other countries how helpful such blocking orders can be and we hope that countries who have not yet introduced the possibility of blocking orders will take note of the system applied here.” AAPA also presented certificates of commendation to Podinspector Marcin Cyganek , an officer in the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC), (previously the Cybercrime Unit in Katowice (Poland)) for his support and action taken to highlight the need for greater priority to be given to fighting IP crime. These actions included the closure of polsharing.com. Bulgaria, Italy, and Spain – previous recipients of an AAPA award – also received Certificates of Commendation. For Bulgaria, this acknowledges the continued role of the Bulgarian Cyber Crime Department in driving the EMPACT programme and for Operation Pheonix which resulted in the dismantling of a local organised crime group. The commendation for Italy for Operation Gotha involved 70 searches and seizures in 23 provinces of our country, dismantling a huge pirate IPTV network serving over 900k users , with profits estimated at 10 million euros . Operation Gotha’s investigation is a continuation of Operation Black Out. For Spain, the commendation recognizes the role of the National Police in Operation Fagus which resulted in the disconnection of the 32 servers that were distributing/hosting illegally the signal for 2,294 TV channels.
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