MANILA, Philippines - Two party-list lawmakers are strongly pushing to penalize perpetrators of digital piracy in a bid to combat online piracy, which they said continues to severely damage the entertainment industry.
In calling for the immediate passage of House Bill 6187, Buhay Party-list Reps. Irwin C. Tieng and Mariano Michael Velarde said online piracy poses a damage to the intellectual property rights of many creators, artists, producers, songwriters, musicians and others whose hard work and great talent make music or film possible. "With the tremendous expansion of the Internet, it has regrettably become a cash-cow for the criminals and organized crime cartels that profit from digital piracy," Tieng said.
One advantage of using a computer to perform these types of piracy is a copy of a song or movie can bean exact replica of the original without degradation of its quality, he said. Tieng said the advent of new digital media platforms like MP3 and video compression formats (VCF), song and movie downloading have relatively become fast and free of charge. "Regardless how the infringer sees it, piracy is theft of intellectual property and is no more justifiable than shoplifting. The damage done to the entertainment industry and legitimate end users do not outweigh the few advantages that piracy does have," he said.
The measure, to be known as the "Anti-Online Piracy Act," would penalize first time offenders with imprisonment of 2 years plus a fine ranging from P50,000 to P150,000. Second time violators will be slapped with a fine of P150,000 to P300,000 and 3 years imprisonment. Third and subsequent offenses will be penalized with five years imprisonment plus a fine ranging from P300,000 to P1,000,000.
Velarde said as a signatory to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), the Philippines recognizes the right to develop and maintain the protection of the rights of authors in their literary and artistic works in a manner as effective and uniform as possible.
He said the bill prohibits and declares it unlawful for any person to make, in a manner not authorized by the copyright owner, copies of music recordings or films, in complete or substantially complete form, by any means, including but not limited to uploading, downloading or streaming. "Offering of goods or services, or providing access in a manner not authorized by the copyright owner, copies of music recordings or films, in complete or substantially complete form, by any means, including by means of download, streaming, provision of a link or aggregated links to other sites is also prohibited," Velarde said.
For effective implementation, the Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination with other concerned government agencies and instrumentalities, should jointly formulate the necessary rules and regulations.
Source: Manila Bulletin
