LEADING PAY-TV COMPANIES IN LATIN AMERICA ANNOUNCE ALLIANCE TO COMBAT PIRACY AT NATPE 2013

Miami, Florida. January 28, 2013. Today, leaders in the Latin American pay-TV industry are joining forces to create the Alianza Contra la Piratería de Televisión Paga (Alliance Against Pay-TV Piracy). The Alianza’s mission is to combat a form of piracy known in the industry as FTA piracy. FTA piracy involves the illegal use of “free-to-air” satellite receivers to decrypt pay television audiovisual signals, illegally and without authorization. The Alianza brings together most of the major players in the pay-TV industry and creates a framework for broader industry collaboration in the fight against FTA piracy.

Although there are no formal statistics, industry research estimates that piracy accounts for up to 20 percent of the pay-TV market in the region, with FTA piracy being one of the principal forms of piracy faced by the industry. Since 2010, over 50 brands of pirated FTAs have appeared on the market in Latin America. FTA piracy is driven by international manufacturers of FTA receivers and the organized networks that distribute and support the use of these receivers for unauthorized purposes. Its presence in Latin America is harmful to consumers as well as to industry players including programmers, operators and the companies that provide equipment and services to pay-tv programmers and operations in the region.

The Alianza’s goals will be to:

• Monitor and investigate FTA piracy;
• Conduct outreach and training with regulators and law enforcement authorities;
• Support law enforcement actions against FTA pirates;
• Enhance public awareness of FTA piracy; and
• Collaborate and support anti-FTA initiatives of country-specific pay-tv associations such as the Associação Brasileira de Televisão por Assinatura, the Brazilian pay-tv association.

Current Alianza supporters include the following:

• Pay-TV Operators:
  DIRECTV PanAmericana, TELEFONICA, SKY Brasil, VTR and Claro Peru, Claro Ecuador, Claro Colombia, and Claro Chile.
• Pay-TV Programmers:
  DISCOVERY, ESPN, FOX International Channels Latin America, GLOBOSAT, HBO Latin America Group, TELECINE, TELEVISA, TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM LATIN AMERICA, and Win Sports.
• Others:
  ABTA, Media Networks Latin America, NAGRA.

The Alianza expands upon a collaboration between DIRECTV and NAGRA, a provider of security and multiscreen digital media solutions, which joined forces in 2010 to leverage each other’s anti-piracy expertise and personnel to combat FTA piracy in South America.

Michael Hartman, SVP of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for DIRECTV Latin America, said: “In a show of solidarity, the Alianza represents a new model of pay-TV collaboration intended to address a serious threat to our industry, as well as to pay-TV customers throughout the region. We are excited to be a part of this initiative.”

“The creation of the Alianza marks an important milestone for the pay-TV industry in Latin America. We are proud that the collaboration, which began with DIRECTV a few years ago, has now developed into an industry-wide effort. We are confident that leveraging both our technology and extensive anti-piracy capabilities will result in a strong and actionable plan with concrete objectives, metrics and deliverables to effectively lead the fight against piracy,” stated Pascal Metral, Head of Anti-Piracy Litigation and Intelligence Operations, NAGRA.

The Alianza has launched a newly created website where the group will provide updates and results on the progress they have made in the region. For more information visit www.alianza.tv.

Press Contacts: DIRECTV Latin America
Selma Astudillo Boggie
DIRECTV PanAmericana
(56) 2 3374006
[email protected]

Carolina Copello
Communications consultant for DIRECTV PanAmericana
+1 (305) 878.2517
[email protected]

NAGRA
Ivan Schnider
Marketing Communications
+41 21 732 09 40
[email protected]

Christine Oury
Marketing Communications
+1 415 962 5433
[email protected]