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Successful anti-piracy activity in Portugal

AAPA

11th September 2011

  • Portuguese Police stop card sharing ring
  • Belgium appellate court confirms decision of Court of Tongeren

AEPOC, Europe's audiovisual anti-piracy association, brings more news about the constant fight against piracy. In Portugal AEPOC member ZON assisted in bringing successful action against activities designed to defraud rightsholders in June. In Belgium a major anti-piracy ruling was recently confirmed by the appellate court.

Portugal: Police dismantle card sharing ring
Following several investigations in the areas of Lisbon, Guarda and the north of the country Portuguese police dismantled a card sharing network which provided unauthorised access to TV content. According to information released by the police the network was operated by two individuals and had over 650 customers. Profits of about €5,000 per month were being earned. More than 10 card sharing servers where seized together with some 100 pirate decoders.

Belgium: Appellate Court confirms sentence
The appellate court of Antwerp confirmed the decision of the Court of Tongeren to impose €1,850,000 in damages and an 18 months' prison sentence on an individual found guilty of selling unauthorised viewing cards. From 2006 to 2008 cards giving illegal access to Sky Deutschland in Germany and Austria were sold. The second instance court has now confirmed the compensation payment and the 18 months prison sentence - with eight months as suspended sentence. The accused is meanwhile appealing again. Several other accused involved in this case had accepted the 2010 judgement, including one pirate sentenced to €180,000 payment in damages and eight months in prison. This took the total sum of damages payable to Sky to the record sum of more than €2 million in combination with severe prison sentences.

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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.”
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