An advocacy group has urged senators to approve the bill seeking to revise the Intellectual Property Code and strengthen the country’s fight against online piracy amid the budget hearings.
“There should be no reason for the delay of the passage of an anti-piracy bill as the country’s creative sector in particular, and the economy in general, have suffered enough from the effects of digital theft,” Kit Belmonte, former congressman and co-convenor of CitizenWatch Phils., said.
The House of Representatives and Senate usually prioritize the hearings on the proposed 2025 national budget
“One more day of delay is another day for internet pirates and cyber criminals to profit from the illegal streaming of copyrighted contents,” Belmonte said.
There are at least two Senate bills and a House-approved measure which seek to strengthen the powers of the 27-year old IPC in the face of unabated infringement on the Filipino artists’ rights to creative assets.
Senate Bill 2150, authored by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, seeks to strengthen the powers and functions of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines to combat online while Senate Bill 2385, authored by Sen. Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, seeks to enhance the powers of the IPOPHIL to curb digital theft.
At the House of Representatives, Albay Representative Joey Salceda’s HB 7600 was already approved on third and final reading.
Belmonte said that cyber criminals have been long taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of the existing IP Code.
“And all that’s left to defend the copyrights of the Filipino artists’ creative assets is the collaborative efforts of the IPOPHL, National Telecommunications Commission, and the internet service providers to put stopgap measures against online piracy,” he said.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) earlier said a study found that the Philippines lost $781 million in revenue in 2022 due to online piracy.
Testifying before the Senate trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship committee in April, IPOPHL Director General Atty. Rowel Barba said the Media Partners Asia’s study looked into the country’s losses due to video piracy.
“In 2022, there were 20 million Filipinos who downloaded from illegal sites and the loss was $781 million. And if nothing is done, by 2027, the number of illegal users will increase to 31 million and the leakage will be $1 billion. Hindi pa po kasama ‘yung (excluding the) taxes,” Barba said.—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News
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