Other Issues

CASBAA presented an overview of the development of online advertising support for piracy in Asian markets to the annual meeting of the Copyright Committee of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. The presentation can be downloaded here. The problems, as noted in the presentation are that: - Advertising revenues make piracy of broadcast content a lucrative racket, and as a result... - ...Asian broadcasters' programs and broadcast streams are increasing being pirated online. - Measures adopted in large, English-speaking overseas markets to improve ad industry practices have not had automatic follow-on effects in Asian markets, and as a result, websites pirating Asian content seem particularly well-supported by mainstream advertising, despite contradictory corporate policies put in place for the English web. - "High-risk" advertising (for porn, gambling, scams, malware, etc.) is also prominent on Asian piracy websites, which are responsible for propagating social values that many Asian governments abhor. The presentation mentions deterrent steps taken in other parts of the world, including advertising Codes of Practice, interfering with payment processing, and site blocking of the most egregious piracy websites. CASBAA members who are interested in more background information, copies of research studies, etc. can find more links here: http://www.casbaa.com/member-login/committee-documents/casbaa-submission/6831-ad-awareness-studies-in-asia

CASBAA Chief Policy Officer John Medeiros presented a brief on problems with Japan's pay-TV audience measurement system to a joint meeting of the Japan-US Business Council and the US-Japan Business Council in Tokyo on November 13. He underlined that Japan is way behind other global and regional comparators in pay-TV audience measurement. Small panel size, infrequent measurement and late data delivery all inhibit players in the advertising market from making rational decisions. The parties hurt by this are largely Japanese companies – both advertisers and Japanese pay-TV channels, he said, but foreign channels would also benefit if better data were to permit stronger growth in Japan's pay-TV industry. Download a copy of Medeiros' presentation here. The full text of a CASBAA-sponsored report on the Japanese Television Audience Measurement (TAM) system is here: http://www.casbaa.com/publications/specific-topics

In a submission to Singapore’s Media Development Authority, CASBAA urged reliance on a combination of better information and self-regulation to meet consumer concerns about occasional removal of channels from pay-TV bouquets. MDA’s public consultation on this question included ideas for approaches that would “go farther in the direction of placing burdensome obligations on pay-TV providers than those in place in any other Asian or Australasian economy,” CASBAA said. This type of “bespoke” regulation to meet common problems carried large risks, CASBAA said, and should be avoided. CASBAA particularly objected to the concept of allowing consumers to terminate pay-TV contracts whenever there was a “material change” (not further specified) in content provided by pay-TV channels.

CASBAA's efforts to raise awareness among the advertising industry about undesirable placement of ads on piracy websites were well described in an article in the June 2014 issue of "Connections" magazine.

True Visions has provided a copy of formal translations of the NCPO announcements 14 and 18. These announcements require, inter alia, censorship of all news broadcast in Thailand so they do not contain criticisms on comments on the National Council for Peace and Order – the military-backed organization which seized power in the recent coup d'etat.

An institute based at the University of Southern California has begun an ongoing series of reports on which online ad servers are providing essential financial support for web-based piracy. The reports provide a fascinating look at the money flows that generate revenue for online copyright infringers.

CASBAA has prepared a Briefing Paper to summarize global best practices when it comes to classifying and labeling content on pay-TV. A few governments in Asia are seeking to impose classification and labeling rules on the entire universe of channels transmitted on pay-TV systems. This imposes an impractical burden on channel operators, who – if such a practice became widespread – could theoretically face requirements to conduct a series of different classification analyses (according to different governments’ standards) for each program they transmit, and then place a host of potentially conflicting rating labels on each program.

Key stakeholders in the Indian broadcasting industry have announced new content guidelines for implementation by all TV channels in the India market. The guidelines produced by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) aim at producing a system of self-regulation for the Indian television industry, but – by agreement with the Indian government – they are also expected to be given legal force soon. (News channels are already subject to a separate self-regulation agreement.) Among other provisions, the new guidelines specify standards for classification of programs and “watershed hours” between 11 pm and 5 am, which are the only times when “restricted” content (not suitable for children) may be shown.

A recently published article described the players in the Bangladesh TV industry, and also accused them of failure to follow tax laws and other regulatory rules.

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