Latest news with #MotionPictureAssociation
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The MPA's Emilie Anthonis Warns Of B2B Pirates & The Threat Of ‘Piracy As A Service'
The latest frontline in the battle against the illegal distribution of content is the fight against those providing would-be pirates with off-the-shelf piracy kits, according to the Motion Picture Association's Europe, Middle East & Africa boss. Emilie Anthonis is the MPA's first non-American, and first female, boss in the EMEA region. She was promoted to President and Managing Director last year, and started work in the role in Jan. More from Deadline Ampere Analysis Breaks Down The Threat U.S. Tariffs Would Pose To European Film & TV Jon Voight, Hollywood Studios And Unions Pen Letter To Donald Trump Calling For Expanded Incentives -- But They Do Not Mention Tariffs The Next Steps For Hollywood Following Donald Trump's Tariff Bombshell: An MPA Confab, And POTUS Plans For A White House Meeting 'One of the concerning trends we're seeing is piracy as a service,' she said at the ongoing NEM industry confab in Dubrovnik. 'It really makes the problem of piracy, or fighting piracy, even more complicated. Piracy as a service is a B2B piracy model. It's a little bit like a wholesale market for pirates selling turnkey solutions to aspirational criminals.' The piracy as a service issue massively lowers the barrier to entry for budding piracy site operators. Effectively, people can buy the tech, know how, and assets required to set up a DIY piracy store. The piracy as a service providers are offering various tools and services that can power streaming services, file-sharing sites and download platforms. 'Today, you don't need to have any IT knowledge to start your piracy website,' Brussels-based Anthonis explained. 'You can get these turnkey packages. So, for example, you have streaming platforms that are white labeled that you just have to brand. You can buy access to all the underlying content. You have monetization services that you can just plug in.' With the b2b pirates ramping up activity, the challenge for the MPA, content owners, and authorities is to try and deal with the issue at source. 'It really decentralizes the problem of piracy. If you don't get to the wholesale problem, you have to find all the retail privacy services that rely on them,' Anthonis said. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media Where To Watch All The 'John Wick' Movies: Streamers That Have All Four Films
Tom's Guide
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
The MPA becomes the latest body to target VPNs in a bid to combat piracy
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has called for an automated blocking system to block online piracy in real-time, and bypass the need for court approval. The body represents major streaming giants including Disney+, Netflix, and Warner Bros. It has urged VPN providers, proxies, and Content Delivery Systems (CDNs), such as Cloudfare, to engage with the group and enforce dynamic blocking. Internet blocking goes against the core principles of the best VPNs and this move follows similar demands by Canal+ and the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) in France. Leading VPN providers were dealt a major blow as Canal+ won a legal case which ordered VPN providers to block illegal sports streaming sites. Whilst VPN providers don't condone the use of VPNs for illegal activities, site blocking risks a wider impact on internet freedoms. In 2023, the EU Commission published recommendations of how to combat online piracy. VPNs were not directly targeted in this report but the use of "dynamic injunctions" was part of its recommendations, as well as "cooperation" between rights holders and intermediaries. The Commission encouraged VPN providers to consider "voluntary measures to prevent their services from being misused." First reported by TorrentFreak, the MPA responded at the end of May 2025. It submitted its comments on the effectiveness of the proposals and noted inconsistencies between countries' implementation of the recommendations and complete absences in others. "Europe is missing effective and appropriate implementation of these provisions across all Member States," the MPA said. The MPA called for automated blocking techniques which would enable rightsholders to tackle piracy and copyright infringement in real-time. "MPA is therefore supportive of automated effective siteblocking mechanisms that can be updated in real-time with appropriate safeguards to address emerging infringing streams," the group said. It also cited use of this technology in other countries, saying "in Italy, Greece, Portugal and Brazil automated dynamic systems are available to rightsholders allowing effective real-time blocks." According to the MPA, collaboration is essential and more intermediaries should have a role in combating piracy. It said CDNs "have the technical capability to implement targeted blocking at the infrastructure level" but called proxies and VPNs to co-operate, saying they "provide essential services to piracy operators." Many argue that VPNs are being unfairly targeted. When Canal+ first launched legal action against a collection of VPN providers, the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), a VPN working group, was quick to defend VPN services. It said: "VPNs are not facilitators of piracy. They neither host, store, nor promote copyrighted material. Such content is not discovered and referenced via privacy-focused VPN tools. Targeting VPN services for activities they do not enable or promote is a misguided and disproportionate approach." Following Canal+ case ruling, the Internet Infrastructure (i2) Coalition – an internet freedom and privacy advocacy group – condemned blocking orders. "This blocking approach – which has failed in the past – relies on blunt technical instruments instead of precise enforcement tools to address the actual sources of piracy. Therefore it will not reduce infringement, and will only cause widespread collateral damage." Adding that "ethically-operated VPNs do not host, store, or promote illegitimate access to copyrighted material" – they "prohibit" it. The MPA wants more to be done when it comes to identifying the operators of piracy sites. It said rightsholders should be able to use "Right of Information" requests to identify individuals and wants the EU to expand its "Know Your Business Customer (KYBC)" requirements to online intermediaries. Trustworthy VPN providers uphold strict no-logs policies, meaning they collect and store as little information as possible – with the most private VPNs collecting the bare minimum. If VPNs don't collect and store the identifiable information of their users and don't record what sites they visit, then complying with identity requests would be practically impossible. Windscribe boss Yegor Sak's recent Greek legal case highlighted how important no-logs policies are. The fact Windscribe had no identifiable data to hand over was a significant reason the case against Sak was dropped. Protecting the privacy of users is a fundamental role of VPNs and leading VPN providers would not put this at risk. Proton VPN CEO Andy Yen recently said that Proton would rather leave Switzerland than comply with a controversial proposed revision to Swiss encryption law. At this stage, there is no legal action being taken against VPNs but there is a growing, negative attitude towards VPNs and anti-piracy. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Man in North Wales arrested for ‘leaking Hollywood films online'
A man has been arrested in North Wales on suspicion of leaking unreleased Hollywood films online. The 47-year-old suspect is being investigated over alleged copyright offences at his home in Penmaenmawr, near Conwy, on April 29 by officers from the police intellectual property crime unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police. He is suspected to have obtained thousands of films, television series and songs without the necessary licence or permissions from copyright owners and then distributed them through a file-sharing torrent site, according to police. The content included two recent Hollywood films that were leaked before their official release dates, the force said. Officers shut down the site and seized two laptops and several hard drives for further examination. A quantity of discs were also seized. The arrest came after an investigation by the intellectual property crime unit and the Motion Picture Association. The man has since been released under investigation, City of London Police said. Det Con Jason Theobald, of the intellectual property crime unit, said: 'This operation serves as a warning to anyone thinking of uploading copyrighted material to pirate sites. 'This is a crime that diverts funds away from the creative industries, money that not only supports artists, but thousands of technical and support staff working in this sector. 'It's estimated that this type of criminal activity contributes to around 86,000 job losses each year alone. PIPCU is committed to working with partners, nationally and internationally, to take action against those involved.' Karyn Temple, a senior executive vice president and global general counsel for the Motion Picture Association, said: 'This operation stands as a powerful testament to the impact of close collaboration between law enforcement, the creative sector and industry partners. 'We commend PIPCU for their leadership and dedication – their unique role in tackling intellectual property crime is essential in today's digital age. Together, we are delivering meaningful results in the fight against piracy. 'As technology continues to evolve, so do the threats to creative content. This decisive enforcement action reinforces the message that piracy is not a victimless crime – it damages creators, disrupts legitimate businesses, and endangers consumers. 'We are proud to stand with PIPCU and our partners to protect creative industries and ensure audiences around the world can enjoy stories in a safe, legal and secure way.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Man in North Wales arrested for ‘leaking Hollywood movies online'
A man has been arrested in North Wales on suspicion of leaking unreleased Hollywood films online. The 47-year-old suspect is being investigated over alleged copyright offences at his home in Penmaenmawr, near Conwy, on April 29 by officers from the police intellectual property crime unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police. He is suspected to have obtained thousands of films, television series and songs without the necessary licence or permissions from copyright owners and then distributed them through a file-sharing torrent site, according to police. The content included two recent Hollywood films that were leaked before their official release dates, the force said. Officers shut down the site and seized two laptops and several hard drives for further examination. A quantity of discs were also seized. The arrest came after an investigation by the intellectual property crime unit and the Motion Picture Association. The man has since been released under investigation, City of London Police said. A crime that hurts the creative industries Det Con Jason Theobald, of the intellectual property crime unit, said: 'This operation serves as a warning to anyone thinking of uploading copyrighted material to pirate sites. 'This is a crime that diverts funds away from the creative industries, money that not only supports artists, but thousands of technical and support staff working in this sector. 'It's estimated that this type of criminal activity contributes to around 86,000 job losses each year alone. PIPCU is committed to working with partners, nationally and internationally, to take action against those involved.' Karyn Temple, a senior executive vice president and global general counsel for the Motion Picture Association, said: 'This operation stands as a powerful testament to the impact of close collaboration between law enforcement, the creative sector and industry partners. 'We commend PIPCU for their leadership and dedication – their unique role in tackling intellectual property crime is essential in today's digital age. Together, we are delivering meaningful results in the fight against piracy. 'As technology continues to evolve, so do the threats to creative content. This decisive enforcement action reinforces the message that piracy is not a victimless crime – it damages creators, disrupts legitimate businesses, and endangers consumers. 'We are proud to stand with PIPCU and our partners to protect creative industries and ensure audiences around the world can enjoy stories in a safe, legal and secure way.'
Express Tribune
15-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Hollywood requests Trump to implement tax incentive
Listen to article Hollywood studios and unions representing movie workers joined forces Monday to urge US President Donald Trump to give tax breaks to US-made films. The joint letter, which was also signed by Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone — two of Trump's "ambassadors" to Hollywood — comes days after the Republican president said he wanted to impose 100 percent tariffs on foreign films in a bid to help the domestic industry. The letter thanks Trump "for the support you have shown our industry," and for drawing attention to production fleeing overseas. But it makes no mention of Trump's tariff plan, a proposal that was met with bafflement across the industry, with observers saying they had no idea how such a tax might work. "Currently, more than 80 countries offer production tax incentives and as a result, numerous productions that could have been shot in America have instead located elsewhere," says the letter. "Returning more production to the United States will require a national approach and broad-based policy solutions, including longer term initiatives such as implementing a federal film and television tax incentive." The idea of a federal tax credit scheme was also suggested last week by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The letter, from the Motion Picture Association — an umbrella grouping for major studios and streamers — and unions representing directors, actors and writers, suggests a number of tax deductions that would make film-making cheaper. "A domestic production incentive would make the US market more competitive and able to retain and return high-paying jobs tied to film and television productions — and the use of this deduction has historically promoted significant economic and job growth," it says. Tariffs on 'foreign' films America's film industry has gradually moved away from its traditional home in and around Hollywood as production has shifted to cheaper locations. The number of shooting days in Los Angeles reached an all-time low last year — lower even than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when filming shut down completely. Fewer than one in five films or TV series broadcast in the United States was produced in California, according to FilmLA, an organization that tracks the movie industry. The loss of that production has a significant economic impact. According to the letter to Trump, each day a film shoots on location it spends more than $670,000, and employs nearly 1,500 people. On May 4, Trump declared on social media that "the movie industry in America is dying a very fast death." He said he had told the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to levy a 100 per cent tariff "on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands." afp
