NTC steps up efforts to curb cable piracy

Signal theft, or the piracy of satellite TV programs is the greatest threat to the development of the country's cable television industry, the National Telecommunications (NTC) said.

Hence, NTC Commissioner Joseph Santiago vowed to step-up efforts to curb piracy by employing stricter measures against erring cable operators while calling for closer government coordination to combat this crime.

In a statement, the NTC chief disclosed that during the last semester alone, his agency issued seven show-cause orders against cable operators who were caught using illegal satellite decoders. These smuggled equipment are used to pick-up encrypted as well as "in-the-clear" cable TV programs which are later re-transmitted to unsuspecting cable TV subscribers. Favorite targets are popular channels like HBO, Cinemax, ESPN, National Geographic, MTV, and others.

"Piracy is synonymous to theft. Not only does it discourage further investments by cable TV programmers in the country, it also exposes the Philippines to possible sanctions because it is a signatory to many international covenants protecting intellectual property rights," he noted.

The prove that the NTC is serious in eradicating this crime, Santiago ordered the immediate resolution of cases against suspected cable pirates. "Should erring cable operators fail to convince NTC why their cable operations should not be shutdown, we will not hesitate to order their closure. We expect to finish their cases by mid-March or early April," he stressed.

For many years, unscrupulous are TV operators have been resorting to piracy to avoid paying the monthly per-subscriber fees that legitimate program providers charge for the re-transmission of their programs. According to NTC Deputy Commissioner Aurelio Umali, the NTC received reports that cable pirates, particularly those in Mindanao and Northern Luzon, are becoming bolder by the day. Hence, he echoed Commissioner Santiago's call for Draconian measures to stop the same.

The most popular mode of piracy is done through the use of illegal decoders from territories where direct-to-home satellite service is available. Unscrupulous traders sell these equipment to Filipino cable operators who are lured by promises of huge windfalls by dodging the payment of mandatory per-subscriber fees to cable programmers.