Approval of anti-online piracy bills sought

MANILA, Philippines — A citizens’ rights group has renewed its calls for the Senate to expedite the passage of anti-online piracy bills, saying that each day of delay translates into significant tangible and intangible losses for the creatives industry while scammers get richer with each victim.

“The inertia of delayed legislation casts a shadow upon progress, stifling the very essence of justice and societal advancement,” said lawyer Tim Abejo, co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines.

Abejo said in a statement that the implementers of anti-piracy policies themselves have already expressed strong support and readiness to take more aggressive measures to combat this bane. 

“We have already lost so many years allowing these high-tech thieves, but thieves, nonetheless, get away with profiting from what isn’t theirs,” he said. 

“What we have right now are just band-aid solutions that hardly address the problem, so it is high time we amend the existing law for a more comprehensive, sustainable approach to online piracy.”

Republic Act 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code was passed in 1997 seeking to protect Filipinos’ intellectual property. While it established the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, the law did not contemplate new technologies like the internet. The IP Code in its current form does not include electronic and online content in its definition of pirated goods.

Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla authored Senate Bills 2150 and 2385, respectively, seeking to pass the Online Site Blocking Act to enable the IPOPHL to swiftly block sites carrying pirated content. These proposals are also being pushed by the Private Sector Advisory Council. 

In May last year, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 7600 authored by Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda that would give greater authority to the IPOPHL