OSN, a leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and Africa, has scored big wins in its fight against television piracy across the region, having conducted more than 316 raids with the support of government authorities, according to a company statement.

The network plans to battle TV-piracy by shutting down illegal Dish TV services as well as the unauthorised distribution of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) services. It also spearheads the Anti-Piracy Coalition with other leading satellite service providers, the statement added.  

David Butorac, chief executive of OSN, said: “Across the region, we see tremendous support from the concerned authorities to curb TV piracy, given the huge loss in revenue to the state exchequers and the negative impact on the creative industry. Having made significant investments in equipment and training, we are using state-of-the-art technology to monitor all forms of TV piracy.”

“We also conduct awareness workshops for the authorities in identifying and curbing TV piracy. Ensuring the IP rights of content providers and creators is ‘doing the right thing,’ and we urge the public to access legal content and to report any instance of television piracy, to help safeguard and drive the growth of the region’s creative sector,” he added.

OSN joined hands with authorities in all GCC countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, as well as in Egypt and Jordan to conduct the anti-piracy raids. This resulted in a significant reduction in the illegal distribution of pirated TV services.

In major wins, several unauthorised operators were fined, shops closed and equipment confiscated. More than 86,487 illegal videos were removed from YouTube/Dailymotion, and over 2,272 advertisements of pirated boxes were removed from online markets. Further, 829 FTA (Free to Air) channel copyright infringements were detected and reported back to the satellite operators/distributors.

While the fight against illegal Dish TV services has been stepped up, OSN also secured a significant victory in its fight against illegal IPTV services, achieving a court conviction against an illegal provider in Dubai. This marked the first time a court in the region has issued a conviction on TV piracy involving the unlicensed and unauthorised distribution of IPTV services in the UAE.

OSN also stepped up anti-piracy raids in Egypt, carrying out successful raids against illegal TV operators in Cairo and Alexandria. – TradeArabia News Service