October 30, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has issued requests to block access to six sites that have been found pirating movies.
In a statement, the IPOPHL said two requests were sent to internet service providers (ISPs) yesterday, with the first covering the blocking of SFlix sites, namely sflix.to, sflix.se and sflix.is and the second involving MyFlixer sites myflixerz.to, myflixertv.to and myflixer.today.
The move coincides with the celebration of the National Anti-Piracy Month this October, established under Proclamation 596 signed in 2018.
Prior to sending the requests to ISPs, these were posted on the IPOPHL website for five days starting Oct. 24 to give website owners time and due process to respond as prescribed by IPOPHL’s Memorandum Circular 2023-025 or the Rules on Voluntary Administrative Site Blocking.
The requests to disable access to the sites stemmed from complaints lodged by the Motion Picture Association Inc. (MPA) to the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office.
MPA‘s members include studios like Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
According to the MPA’s complaints, “these websites have neither authority nor permission, from the rightsholders, expressed or implied, to make available, publish, copy, print, reproduce, use, or make available for download or for streaming in any manner of any of the rightsholders’ copyrighted works.”
Copyrighted works in question include “Shazam!,” “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Girls Trip,” “Day Shift,” “Jumanji: The Next Level” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
IPOPHL said these titles only represent a small, non-exhaustive sample of the widespread infringement taking place on the websites.
Based on the examination of the evidence presented and the evaluation report submitted, all the cited websites are hosting pirated versions of movies or TV shows and allowing users to access illegal copies by downloading or streaming.
By hosting pirated content and allowing users to access illegal copies through downloading or streaming, the requests cited that the websites undermine the exclusive rights of the complainants.
These acts violate Republic Act 18293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.
IPOPHL deputy director general Nathaniel Arevalo said the agency is committed to safeguard the rights of artists and the opportunities that could shape the future of the country’s creative economy.
“As an ex-officio member of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council, IPOPHL is one with the nation in fighting bad actors that derail efforts in cultivating a safe creative environment for artists – an environment where our imaginations can push boundaries and where investments toward creative expressions grow and lead to new works that keep the Philippine’s creative momentum upward and moving,” he said.
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