Cyfrowy Polsat Spółka Akcyjna
Cyfrowy Polsat S.A.
Jesteśmy jedną z największych polskich firm mediowych oraz wiodącą grupą medialno-telekomunikacyjną w regionie.
ID: 313035020383-71
Lobbying Activity
Response to Fighting against online piracy of live content
8 Feb 2023
For Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. Capital Group the main problem related to piracy of live content is unauthorised dissemination of transmissions of sport events on websites created solely for this purpose. 51 such retransmissions were detected in 2022 during sport events offered as pay-per-view. 125 notices were sent (to website administrators, hosting providers and providers of the stream source) out of which only 20 were successful. Other sport events accessible on linear sport channels are also disseminated mainly via pirate websites with live TV. 59 such websites were discovered in 2022 and 25% of all pirate transmissions were blocked. The success of combating such infringements is limited for several reasons. Both administrators and hosting service providers of pirate services do not react to notices to stop the infringement. Pirate services are usually located on servers belonging to companies in Russia, Ukraine but also the Netherlands (Leaseweb and skb-enterprise.com both seated in Amsterdam), Latvia (veesp registeredin Liepāja) and Bulgaria (cloudwall.bg) Hosting service providers, especially those registered in the EU should undertake immediate action upon receiving a credible notice from a rights holder. Polish regulations do not secure claims of copyright holders. In Poland there are no mechanisms to block pirated live content quickly and effectively. Registers of domains where copyright law is breached do not exist. Such a register, which could operate in a similar way to the existing Register of Domains Used to Offer Illegal Gambling could be managed by an appropriate ministry and internet providers would be obliged to block breaching internet sites under penalty of a fine. The basis for inclusion in this register would be a notice from a trusted flagger together with the provider not being included on the list of licences and decisions published by the national media regulator (KRRiT). For companies from the Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. Capital Group illegal dissemination of live transmissions causes loss of profit that could be made if illegal transmission had not taken place. As a result of illegal dissemination viewers who watch pirated live content do not make payment for access to the content via a legal distribution channel. The company also bears costs of internet monitoring to detect infringements and of employees being on call during sport events. Finding links to illegal retransmissions disseminated in closed groups on social media is a big challenge. Tardiness of law enforcement authorities and the judiciary is a major problem. Frequently a few years pass from the moment the police receives a notification of a reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense to the filing of charges by the prosecutor. Judicial proceedings also last many years. For example the service weeb.tv which has been retransmitting TV since about 2012 is still available for internet users in Poland and abroad. Please refer to the attached file containing our postulates as to the outcome of the "Call for Evidence".
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