HBO Asia takes active stance vs piracy

Taking a more pro-active stance in its crusade against piracy, HBO Asia has begun deactivating illegal satellite decoders -- electronic devices used by some cable operators in pirating encrypted satellite programs.

This latest approach in combating signal theft wast bared by officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), who said that NTC welcomes the innovative technique employed by HBO Asia as a way of helping the agency in its fight against piracy.

Reports reaching the NTC indicated that HBO Asia's success was made possible through the implementation of the opaque fingerprinting feature that helps identify signal pirates. The process enables HBO Asia to track the source of the piracy that is linked to the illegal decoders in use.

"HBO Asia takes a very serious view against piracy as it hurts our business and that of legitimate operators. We want to take action against piracy and look to join forces with regulatory bodies in the Philippines and other parts of Asia," said James Marturano, senior vice president, sales and marketing, HBO Asia.

"The continuing dialogue between the NTC and cable TV programmers has finally yielded results. Since October, HBO Asia began deactivating satellite decoders which, they suspect, were being used by some cable TV operators in the Philippines to receive and re-transmit HBO's signals without authorization," NTC officials explained.

Allegedly smuggled from Taiwan and Indonesia, direct-to-home (DTH) decoders are only authorized and licensed for use in their country of origin. Through some equipment vendors, however, the so-called "black boxes" somehow find their way to the Philippines. Upon the prodding of some elements in the cable TV industry, cable operators purchase these equipment to receive and re-transmit signals without paying a single centavo to program providers.

After identifying the source of the electronic devices, the NTC said HBO Asia promptly cut-off the satellite feed to these decoders. This action derailed the capability of cable TV pirates to receive and re-transmit HBO's signals.

As one of the the world's leading cable TV channels, HBO is a favorite target of signal pirates. For this reason, it has become a leading crusader against piracy and has actively supported efforts by the Philippine government to stamp-out signal theft.

The NTC noted that HBO Asia's prompt action should serve as an example to other program providers like ESPN, National Geographic, Discovery and MTV, among others, which are also common targets of cable TV pirates. "After all, the NTC can only do so much to help them. To fight the piracy menace, program providers should also do their rightful share," NTC officials stressed.

In enlisting all possible help, HBO Asia is appealing to consumers and cable operators to report suspected pirated signals of HBO and Cinemax to Attorney Bienvenido Somera of the Caprio Villaraza & Cruz law offices in Makati City, Philippines through tel: (632) 818-9836 or Fax: (632) 817-1324.

Based in Singapore, HBO Asia is the pay-television service of HBO Pacific Partners, a joint venture of Time Warner Entertainment (Home Box Office and Warner Bros), Paramount Films of Southeast Asia Inc, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Universal Studios Inc. HBO Asia programs and distributes HBO, HBO2 and Cinemax. All channels licence products on an exclusive basis from Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Columbia/TriStar and DreamWorks, for the region.