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電影、電視、唱片業關注版權法研討會 Problems on copyright issues encountered by the Television Industry
Presentation by Mr. Stephen Chan
Concerns for TV Broadcasters – Unauthorized distribution of content and signals piracy Good afternoon Mr. John Tsang, Legislative Council Members, and ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to represent ATV, TVB and Hong Kong Cable TV to present to you today the copyright issues relating to the recent Government Copyright consultation that are of major concerns to the TV broadcasters as content creators as well as broadcasters in Hong Kong. The topics I would like to cover today include: 1. The current problems that the TV broadcasters are facing; 2. The emerging problems that we foresee in the digital environment; 3. What the TV Industry can do; 4. Why Government support is vital; 5. Why Hong Kong needs to strengthen copyright protection in the digital environment; and 6. Whether Hong Kong should expand the scope of copyright exemption. 1. Current problems (a) Pay TV signal piracy still remains rampant despite efforts have been made by the law enforcers in trying to clamp down illegal decoders and by the industry in regularly using new technical solutions to combat piracy. Illegal decoder retailers even provide cheap maintenance service to customers to ensure that customers can continue to use the illegal decoder despite adoption of new technical solutions. Though importation of illegal decoders in the course of trade or business has been made an offence for almost five years, no enforcement action has yet been seen at the border. This is worrying because as far as we are aware the illegal decoders retailed in Hong Kong come from the PRC. We are of the view that the law enforcers should work more closely with the mainland authorities and step up enforcement actions at the border. (b) Illegal copying in physical formats also presents a problem as technology has increased the speed and improved the quality of copying. Although the Prevention of Copyright Piracy Ordinance relating to the licensing of local manufacture of optical discs does appear to have deterred illegal copying activities in Hong Kong, the challenge we face is illegal copies made in PRC, which are illegally distributed worldwide and also available for sale in retail shops in PRC. (c) With the advancement of the internet technology and rapid expansion of online services, copyright infringement has become the greatest concern to broadcasters and the content supply industry. Extensive infringement activities are now taking place in the cyberspace by commercial websites as well as by the end-users using peer to peer file sharing networks (P2P). Illegal copies of TV programmes have been put on internet auction sites and for free download and viewing. Although the Customs in Hong Kong has set up a separate Anti-internet Piracy Team to investigate internet-based infringement activities since December 1999, we understand that successful prosecuted cases are far and few. The content creators and owners are helpless without the copyright law being strengthened to deal with infringement in the digital environment. We are encouraged by the recent first-ever successful enforcement action taken by the Customs against copyright piracy relating to P2P file sharing activities. We hope the Government will continue to work with the Industries to find more effective means to resolve the current problems. 2. Emerging problems In July 2004, the Government announced its policy I quote “to enhance and promote Hong Kong’s information infrastructure and services to make Hong Kong a leading digital city in the globally connected world of the 21st century”. At the moment, only pay TV services are provided in digital form. To help fulfilling this policy and to ensure Hong Kong will maintain its position as a regional broadcasting hub and a leader in the application of innovative technology, the Government proposed the implementation framework for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting by 2007 the latest. The time table proposed by the Government poses a great challenge to terrestrial broadcasters, but with our commitments and coordinated efforts from the other interested parties and the Government; we are confident that the Government’s policy objective can be achieved. However, broadcasting in digital form will bring new threat to terrestrial broadcasters and pay TV service providers as digital signals can be stored, copied, distributed easily, rapidly and with no degradation of quality. Broadband internet upload and download times required for films have shortened rapidly and in a year or 2, a 30 minutes digital TV programme will probably only take 2 minutes to be copied in the internet. The digital signals can also be manipulated and edited easily and cheaply and be distributed in any media such as internet, DVD, HDVD, HD-DVD, MP3 player/recorder. There will be no boundary or limitation of distribution of broadcast content. Recently, a new technology called TiVoToGo, which lets user to copy recorded films to PC by way of a home network and even burn them onto DVD, has been made available free to subscribers of TiVo in the States. TiVo can automatically finds and digitally records up to 140 hours of programming its subscriber requires. TiVo has also announced it is collaborating with Microsoft on software that will let user to copy films to hand-held Portable Media Center players. This means high quality digital TV picture and sound content can be extensively copied, re-distributed and watched anywhere and by anyone in the worldwide! It is therefore very important to give special attention NOW for the protection of digital TV signals, in particular the unencrypted terrestrial broadcasts before the launch of terrestrial digital TV service to ensure such service can survive in the digital world. Steps must be taken to ensure that technical and legal protection mechanisms are in place and enforced. It is high time that the law should be amended to be ahead of technology rather than always lagging behind. I will now move onto what steps the industry and the Government can do. 3. What the TV industry can do? The terrestrial TV broadcasters are considering the current content protection methods available in the world, such as the broadcast flag used in the States, the high bandwidth digital content protection method, the B-CAS card Conditional Access System used in Japan. Each method has its pros and cons. Most important of all, adoption of any technical solutions requires Government mandate on the use of protection devices in hardware and/or effective protection and remedies in law. 4. Why Government support is vital The rapid evolution of the broadband internet and recording devices has meant that piracy for commercial gain and by ordinary people have become commonplace. Information on how to circumvent content protection methods and interference with digital rights management system can be made freely available on websites. The industry cannot prevent widespread infringing activities on its own. We strongly believe protection of broadcast signal whether free or encrypted should be effectively given throughout the delivery and reception chain. Our copyright law should be strengthened in the manner that would facilitate the law enforcers, broadcasters and content owners to take appropriate actions against the infringers swiftly and deter infringing activities in a widespread scale effectively. Needless to say, educating the public and the younger generation in schools should be an on-going process. 5. Needs to strengthen protection in the digital environment If we do not have a set of laws that can effectively protect broadcast and content in the digital environment and prevent and deter infringing activities in the cyberspace, the rights that the law intended to protect become meaningless and useless. Broadcast content could be distributed simultaneously and rapidly worldwide once broadcast. There will have serious adverse impact on the business models of broadcasters and content creators. No content supplier will be prepared to license programmes to broadcasters or else demand a high price. Quality content may be diminished. At the end, the public will also suffer; they will either have to pay for a higher fee (directly or indirectly) to watch a programme or channel or have to live with substandard quality of programme or channel. The survival of the broadcasting and content production industries will be put at risk. Protection measures for children from viewing obscene and violent content may not be effective any longer. Personal data and private information may also be subject to illegal usage. The Government’s policy objective as quoted earlier in my presentation would become difficult to achieve. How can Hong Kong be a leading digital city and a regional broadcasting hub without effective legal protection and enforcement in the digital environment? Not to say promoting the development of cultural and creative industries as part of the Government’s Policy Address of this year. 6. Copyright Exemption Finally, I would like to have a quick word on the review of the copyright exemption proposed by the Government. This topic will be discussed in detail by our guest speakers at the later session. The broadcasting industry believes that without sufficient and effective legal protection and enforcement mechanisms in place for the digital environment, it is premature to review the copyright exemption provisions. Thank you for your attention. For details of the Symposium on the Concern of Copyright Issues ........ |
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