Fighting Piracy: You Can't Win, You Can't Surrender

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Peering Forum - 2023 as part of the panel discussion "New laws at the intersection of media and telecom: impact, application, compliance". Experts say that one of the main reasons for strengthening regulation is the fight against piracy.

Marina Gorbik, CEO of the Agency Contact television and radio broadcasting company, proposed introducing taxes for pirates following the example of other countries: "Some countries jordan whatsapp number database have been unable to adopt legal regulation of developing platforms for a long time. And they went from the tax regulation side: they introduced a tax on digital services. We have a bunch of pirate sites on the Internet that have no identification - legal address, contacts. We don't even understand who we are dealing with. There is no legal entity that will be responsible. It is difficult for us as a TV channel to work with this. There are online platforms that buy rights, enter into contracts, bear costs, and next to them there are many market participants who do not do this, and sometimes they are also present on foreign resources."

Alexey Byrdin, CEO of the Internet Video Association, is confident that taxes will not solve the problem: "There are many such taxes in Russia. For example, the Google tax (VAT on digital services). But taxing pirates is a thankless task. Moreover, there is a huge qualification that is calculated based on the audience and revenue of the services. Not all sites fall under it. In addition, the state is not a subject that must run around the markets and look for counterfeit goods. We can successfully solve all the problems within the framework of the anti-piracy memorandum."

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Broadcasting industry experts discussed signing an additional agreement to the anti-piracy memorandum and other mechanisms to combat piracy. Market players admitted that it is impossible to completely eradicate piracy.

Vice President of the Association of Cable Television of Russia (AKTR) Mikhail Silin believes that serious adjustments need to be made to the legislation regarding television broadcasting: "In order to protect market participants, the state must adopt certain laws. The legislation on television broadcasting is very different from the legislation on audiovisual services. There is a different procedure for clearing rights. If clear rules apply to audiovisual services, then in the field of television it is completely the opposite. It is necessary to redefine the concept of television broadcasting."

Grigory Uryev, CEO of the telecommunications company Synterra Media, advocates for increased regulation for the normal development of the industry: "We do not have a strategy in the television and radio broadcasting industry that would take into account the interests of broadcasters, equipment manufacturers, audiovisual services, and other market participants. We do not understand where we are going globally. There is a lack of a key high-level document that would answer the question of where we will end up in at least seven years. This is where the disputes arise: they adjusted here - they loosened there, and vice versa. Until all market participants in the process of delivering content, from the moment of its filming and creation to the consumption by the viewer, agree on how it should be, we will not move forward. Certainty is always better than chaos. It is better to be regulated than to have confusion and vacillation in all directions."