Blog Post

Uneven level of law enforcement activity in the EU creates safe harbours for pirates

AAPA

16th November 2009

Effectiveness of law enforcement against audiovisual crimes at different levels across the EU
19 of 27 EU member states working within High Level Expert Group to improve effectiveness of the Conditional Access Directive (CAD)
Rob van Nunen elected on AEPOC Board of Directors

AEPOC calls on eight EU member states to join the High Level Expert group to improve the effectiveness of the European Directive against audio-visual piracy: During the recent board meeting of AEPOC, the European Association for the Protection of Encrypted Works and Services, members discussed the EU's progress to strengthen the central legislation against audio-visual crimes such as pay-TV piracy: Initiated by the European Commission, an expert group currently analyses and suggests amendments to the existing Directive to better protect conditional access services. The next group meeting is expected for December 3 and will bring together many suggestions from the 19 countries having joined this expert team.

AEPOC members are also in contact with several national delegates of this expert group to provide insight into today's limitations of the legislation. However, the association points out that eight EU member states have not yet nominated a country representative for the High Level Expert Group.

While AEPOC is pleased to see increasing effectiveness in law enforcement activities in many EU countries to counteract audio-visual piracy, several EU states show little involvement. Overall attention of law enforcement bodies improved, especially in France, the UK and Italy. The Portuguese institutions also act vigilantly in their battle against pay-TV piracy - and also more recently Sweden shows good progress following the internationally acclaimed judgement to close down the internet file sharing platform "Pirate Bay".

Eight EU countries have still not yet named a delegate for the EU's High Level Expert group. AEPOC calls on Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands and Slovenia to join the group to help facilitate a better implementation of the Directive.

AEPOC President Jean Grenier said: "We are pleased to see an ever increasing level of law enforcement activities in many EU countries, acting concisely, quickly and in a sustainable way against audio-visual crimes. Especially France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom must be seen as role models - for other EU countries that still do not consider audio-visual piracy to be a very relevant issue on their national agenda. We suggest to the eight countries not yet part of the Commission's expert group to take over their responsibility now - and not run the risk of neglecting the detrimental effects of piracy for their countries' and the EU's economies. Varying law enforcement activity across the EU will otherwise produce safe harbours for pirates directly within the EU."

At the AEPOC meeting in Geneva, kindly hosted by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the new representative for member company Irdeto, Mr Rob van Nunen, was elected on the Board of Directors of the Association. The final 2009 AEPOC Board of Directors and General Assembly meeting is planned for December 21 in Brussels.

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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.”