Given the need to expose the multidimensional problem of piracy, as well as the procedures necessary to achieve better results in the fight against this practice that has a negative impact in various areas of the public and private sphere, the webinar "“State of piracy of audiovisual content in Argentina”, organized by the Center for Telecommunications Studies of Latin America (cet.la).
At the start of the meeting, the SSecretary General of the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications Companies (ASIET), Maryleana Mendez, announced the main results for the Argentine case of the study “Dimension and impact of online piracy of audiovisual content in Latin America”, a report that aimed to observe the sources of access and audience of online piracy of audiovisual content and the economic impact of its illegal distribution in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, during 2019 to 2020.
The report highlighted that illegal content can be easily found on the Internet. Generic searches such as “watch free movies” are a major gateway to piracy. Thus, 47% of the results on the first page of Google were related to piracy. Additionally, the main sources of access to illegal audiovisual content for users are the Internet. Search engines, marketplaces, social networks and app stores.
In the case of Argentina, the search results lead, in a 45% of cases, to sites that link to illegal content; 15% in marketplaces and 29% on social networks. In addition, as far as mobile applications are concerned, in Argentina it reaches 473.000 illegal downloads for a total of 1.803.956 legal downloads. That is, one illegal download for every 3.8 legal ones.
Likewise, Argentina stands out because the sites for live broadcasts are those that proportionally present the highest volume when compared to the regional results. On the contrary, in the marketplaces it presents fewer offers compared to the other countries in the region as a whole.
As for the topics, they show a similar distribution to those of the region, with series, movies and live broadcasts generating the most unofficial results; and IPTV (the method used to access your online television package) is the modality most contaminated with piracy.
With regards to piracy hearing, the report points out that this phenomenon is transnational in Latin America and is influenced more by language than by the specificity in each country. Thus, it is observed that Argentina has 26 million unique visitors per monthThat is, illegal visits were 53% more than legal visits, a figure above the regional average.
The specialist illustrated the economic scenarios that generate piracy in the countries. In this context, he explained that the losses of the legal market for audiovisual content delivery services in Argentina are estimated at up to USD 176 million annually, while the profits from the illicit business in the country are estimated at USD 113 million per year.
Also, on the good practice, Maryleana Méndez stated that “there are regional examples that have been developed and that are relevant due to the joint work between public authorities and the industry to combat piracy.” She mentioned Operation 404 in Brazil (2019), the Administrative Blocking Orders in Ecuador (2017) and in Peru (2018) and the Europol Coordinated Coalition for Intellectual Property Crimes (IPC3) in Europe (2016).
The forum also included a panel composed of the Manager of Criminal Affairs, Technological Crimes, Anti-Piracy and Judicial Requirements at Telecom Argentina, Sergio Piris; the Vice President of External and Regulatory Affairs at DIRECTV Argentina, Francisco Barretto; the Coordinator of the Drafting Group of the CITEL Recommendation for actions to combat piracy of content and TV signals, María José Francos; the head of the Specialized Prosecution Unit on Cybercrime of the Public Prosecutor's Office of Argentina, Horacio Azzolin; and the Manager of the Trademark Protection Program at Mercado Libre, Juan Cichero. It was moderated by the Director of the DPL News Agency, Paula Bertolini.
All participants agreed that a multidisciplinary and cross-cutting effort is required to combat piracy, to strengthen the institutions responsible for monitoring this matter, to promote the continued effort of inter-institutional agreements to coordinate active practices that curb illegal distribution and to develop digital capabilities to raise awareness among citizens that piracy of audiovisual content is a crime. It causes enormous harm to users and the creative and entertainment industry, impacting job creation, tax collection and the development of the country's economy. (Document “Dimension and impact of online piracy of audiovisual content in Latin America”)
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