Blog Post

PRESS RELEASE: AAPA LAUNCHES ANTI-PIRACY AWARD

AAPA

26th June 2018

At this year’s Europol Intellectual Property Crime conference, the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) announced the winner of it first award for a successful initiative to tackle audiovisual piracy. The winner was Grupo de Antipirateria of the Policia Nacionale (Spain), led by Inspector Marlene Álvarez Vicente. The award recognised the Grupo de Antipirateria’s successful operations in large scale illegal streaming cases, many of which affected AAPA members.

Two runner-up awards were made to the team led by Detective Superintendent George Kyne and including Detective Sergeant David Gilmore and Detective Garda Frank Lambe of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Garda, Ireland and to Bogdan Ciinaru of Europol’s IPC3 unit respectively.

In announcing the awards Sheila Cassells, Executive Director of AAPA, said that “AAPA recognises the challenges – whether resources, priorities, available knowledge and expertise - faced by law enforcement agencies and others in tackling audiovisual piracy. AAPA members decided that it is important to recognise formally the work of some of those from the public sector who have overcome these challenges to help us fight this crime which has a substantial impact on the creative industries and other sectors. This recognition is all the more important when IP crime is no longer an EMPACT priority.”

Presenting the awards Mark Mulready, VP of AAPA and VP of Cybersecurity Services at Irdeto, commented that “The work done by our three award recipients in fighting audiovisual piracy is of enormous value to the industry. It sends a clear signal that piracy will not be tolerated and law enforcement has the resources, skills and expertise to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. Irdeto has been working with Marlene and her team on cases such as Operation Casper and Y-Internet and I can testify personally to the commitment, dedication and skills demonstrated by her and the team. We hope that these awards will help encourage others to take up the fight against audiovisual piracy and we are ready to support those efforts."

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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.”