Local movie industry cracks down on piracy
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—MANILA, Philippines—Cinema security will be stepped up in the Philippines to curb illegal recording by digital pirates.
Experts have traced a number of illegal cinema recordings using video cameras to the Philippines this year, Thea Geronimo, account executive of public relations Strategic Edge Incorporated, said.
Geronimo said that 10 illegal movie releases have been traced back to local cinemas in Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Laguna and Manila from January to October, a significant increase from last year’s four cases and a single case from 2011.
The rise in the number of cases prompted the Optical Media Board (OMB), National Cinema Association of the Philippines (NCAP), Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council of the Philippines (MPAFPC) and Intellectual Property Office to again put their officers on alert.
“We remain steadfast in implementing zero-tolerance for violators of Intellectual Property Rights,” said OMB chairman Ronnie Rickets.
“Criminal enforcement goes hand-in-hand with the extensive assessment and technologies and techniques used in camcording, and these will be key methods to reduce incidents across the Philippines,” Rickets said.
According to Dominic Du of NCAP and MPAFPC, patronage of pirated movies motivates vendors to continue criminal activities.
Atty. Ricardo Blancaflor, IPO director general, said that the anti-piracy body is now operating under new tactics and technology to apprehend and prosecute violators with night vision goggles used in all cinemas to identify pirates.
Originally posted at 06:05 pm | Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2013
RELATED STORY:
Filipino producer wins antipiracy award
