AAPA in 2022

AAPA in 2022: End of year review

• 2022 saw the resumption of face-to-face-meetings and events. The first AAPA in-person meeting since January 2020 was hosted by Irdeto in Hoofddorp and was followed by meetings hosted by LeakID in Paris and Sky in West London.
• Guest speakers included the EUIPO Observatory on IP Infringements; the Cybercrime Department, Ministry of Interior, Bulgaria; Avia/CAP; PayPal; IFPI; and Cloudflare.
• The INTERPOL and Europol IP Crime conferences were also held in person for the first time since 2020. AAPA sponsored both very well-attended events.
• The INTERPOL conference in Seoul was preceded by an IIPCIC Digital Piracy Workshop which we helped IIPCIC to plan. AAPA presented sessions on apps, highlighting the lack of difference between branded and generic apps, and the findings of the malware study. In the conference we took part in a panel on money laundering and IP crime and ran a demo on illegal streaming in the region.
• The INTERPOL Stop Online Piracy Digital Advisory Group (i-SOP) also met in-person in Seoul. This offered an opportunity to exchange views on trends in piracy, training requirements, etc.
• At the Europol conference in Rome, we took part in, and acted as the rapporteur to, a well-attended panel on online piracy and the role of public-private partnerships in enforcement.
• With thanks to Europol this conference also allowed us to resume the presentation of the AAPA awards in-person. The winner of the 5th AAPA award was The Cybercrime Department of the Bulgarian Directorate Combating Organized Crime for their lead in implementing the EMPACT priority on IP Crime. The award was presented to Inspector Alexander Velev for his work in leading the operational action concerning illicit IPTV and illicit streaming. AAPA also presented highly commended awards to Nucleo di Polizia Economico-Finanziaria della Guardia di Finanza di Milano and Squadra Reati Informatici della Procura della Repubblica presso il Tribunale Ordinario di Milano, for “The Net” operation, which involved over 500,000 users of a huge pirate network.

• AAPA commissioned two important studies which highlight the need for continued vigilance and action by the industry and law enforcement to clamp down on piracy.
• The first study on malware (https://www.aapa.eu/study-on-malware-and-audiovisual-piracy-highlights-significant-risks-to-european-consumers) identified significant risks to European consumers. The findings showed that within 71 seconds of clicking on a pirate website a consumer is faced with the risks of loss of identity, having credentials stolen and ransom demands. The risks of being infected by malware are even higher for consumers accessing pirated content via apps, with a 57% chance of it coming with embedded malware.
• The other study examined the scale and impact of illicit IPTV in Europe (https://www.aapa.eu/illicit-iptv-in-europe-an-aapa-economic-report). This was an update of a study undertaken previously for the EUIPO. The study revealed that over 17m Europeans (4.5% of the population) accessed Illicit streaming, with the number being relatively much higher in the 16-24 age group. The revenue generated for the pirate services providers was over €1.06 billion while the potential revenue loss for legal providers exceeded €3.21 billion.
• The provision of training for law enforcement featured heavily. The cornerstone was a 2.5 day in-person training event held in Sofia under the auspices of the EMPACT programme. Participants received hands-on training in how to combat streaming piracy. Training was also provided at the request of the Korean National Police in Seoul; the US DOJ in Bucharest; and the USPTO with INTERPOL and CARICOMS in Barbados.
• We attended also the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement and were pleased to present to the 1st WIPO meeting of Private Sector Associations.
• Offshore hosting was the subject of our presentation to the UN Internet Governance Forum. Other opportunities to discuss this problem will arise in 2023.
• Policymakers, legislators and regulators also have an important role to play in the fight against piracy. We thank the growing number of jurisdictions which have made possible the use of blocking orders, However, like many stakeholders AAPA was deeply disappointed that the promise of the Digital Services Act did not come to fruition with certain key provisions such as Know Your Business Customer and rapid takedown limits for live events piracy being rejected. This was compounded by the European Commission’s weak response in the form of a proposed Recommendation to demands for legislation to help fight live events piracy despite the calls of over 110 MEPs. The fight goes on!

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