Blog Post

AAPA ANNOUNCES 2nd ANTI-PIRACY AWARD

AAPA

Malaga 18 June 2019

The 2019 Europol Intellectual Property Crime conference in Malaga was the venue where the winner of the 2nd Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) award was announced. The award is given to an individual or team from the public sector for a successful initiative to tackle audiovisual piracy. The winner was Chief Inspector Monica Dopico and the IP Crime Section of the Spanish National Police. The award recognised the success of the National Police in fighting audiovisual piracy as organised crime and the contribution made to raising awareness of the crime through participation in conferences and workshops.

AAPA also presented a special award to Chris van Steenkiste, Head of Europol IPC3, for his outstanding efforts in the fight against piracy.

In announcing the awards Sheila Cassells, Executive Director of AAPA, said that "AAPA believes it is important to acknowledge the commitment on law enforcement agents and others in the public sector to fighting audiovisual piracy. This second award represents a clean sweep for the Spanish Police who also won last year and we hope this will encourage others to follow. Monica has brought an essential organised crime approach to piracy cases, which can often be seen as a lesser crime of copyright theft. Monica's willingness to spread the message about the need for and how to fight this crime through participation in external events has been invaluable".

Presenting the awards Phillip Davies, VP of AAPA and Director of Fraud and Anti-Piracy at Sky UK and Ireland, commented that "The commitment of Chris van Steenkiste to IP crime generally and audiovisual piracy in particular cannot be underestimated. Under his leadership Europol has an established team with the enthusiasm, skills and expertise to coordinate Member States' operations on piracy and we hope that will continue. AAPA enjoys a productive and collegiate relationship with Chris and we are ready to support Europol in any way possible".

About AAPA: AAPA ( www.aapa.eu ) represents companies involved in the provision of protected audiovisual services, rights holders, security technology for such services, and the manufacturing of products which facilitate the delivery of such services. AAPA's mission is to enable the fight against piracy where this involves the development, promotion, distribution, application or use of technologies resulting in the unauthorised use of protected audiovisual content, by co-ordinating intelligence and action supported by effective legislation and its implementation. For more information about AAPA's work visit www.aapa.eu

AAPA is a sponsor of the Europol IP Crime conference and is closely connected with Europol and the IPC3 team through a MOU, membership of the IPC3 Stakeholders Advisory Group and a number of operational cases involving audiovisual piracy. AAPA has also provided training to Europol officers and representatives from Member States.

The awards are the first to be given by AAPA. The award may be made to an individual or team working in law enforcement, including customs, market surveillance, the public prosecution service, international or national Government agencies or departments and regulatory bodies.

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Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance 2024-2029 EU Manifesto

by AAPA • 1 October 2024

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) publishes its first Manifesto, linked here . The document aims to recognise past efforts of EU legislators when it comes to content protection and the fight against copyright infringement, whilst admitting that more can and should be done to address this growing issue. Miruna Herovanu, Executive Director of AAPA said : " After years of laying the groundwork to combat online piracy it’s time for EU policymakers and beyond to fully acknowledge that decisive, targeted measures are needed at the European level. The rise of digital theft demands action. We call for strong political resolve to end the theft of our members' content. We're ready to support every stakeholder—law enforcement, policymakers, and industry representatives—to dismantle criminal networks and protect European consumers from harm."

AAPA ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

by AAPA • 28 May 2024

The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has announced the appointment of Miruna Herovanu as its Executive Director. Miruna was previously the Director at the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand in Europe in charge of Intellectual Property and Competition policies. She took up her position with AAPA on 27 May 2024 and will be based in Brussels. Miruna will replace Sheila Cassells who is retiring as Executive Vice President of AAPA and will report on a day-to-day basis to the two Co-Presidents, Mark Mulready, VP of Cyber Services at Irdeto and Oliver Pribramksy, Head of IP Protection and Committees at the Deutsche Fussball Liga. She will be responsible for the implementation of the strategy agreed by AAPA members, managing relationships with law enforcement agencies such as Europol, Eurojust, INTERPOL and the European Institutions, delivery of AAPA’s Working Group goals and general management of the Alliance. Mark Mulready said that: “We are delighted to appoint someone of Miruna’s calibre and experience to become the Executive Director of AAPA. Miruna’s commitment to copyright protection is well-known. Her knowledge of the Brussels institutions and the EUIPO will stand AAPA in good stead for future policy developments. A priority will be for Miruna to work closely with AAPA members, the EUIPO and the European Institutions to deliver on, inter alia, the goals of combatting online piracy of sports and other live events recommendation.” Miruna Herovanu commented that: “My professional experience demonstrated that piracy is an ever-growing issue that eats at the heart of Europe’s most important industries. This is a golden opportunity and a new professional challenge that will help further develop my passion for and commitment to protecting copyright. Being able to work with and support industry experts and practitioners in AAPA, law enforcement, the European Institutions and other trade associations is essential to the fight against piracy. I am excited to be taking on this role.”