PAP and the Government have announced a new cooperation agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MOU presented to the Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) today, is geared towards establishing a partnership for capacity building, benchmarking and experience sharing, intellectual property rights protection, training, and skills development within applicable legal frameworks.
PAP is of the opinion that once the MoU is signed, this will also strengthen future co-operation between PAP and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in combating broadcasting piracy.
“Today marks another milestone in the Government’s efforts to fight broadcast and content piracy, which continue to drain the fiscus of billions of rands a year. Committing to signing this MoU shows our commitment to protect our creative industry so it can grow and attract investment – something that cannot happen without the Government’s intervention,” said Advocate Doctor Mashabane, Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD).
In South Africa, the South African Cybercrimes Act of 2020 empowers law-enforcement agencies to protect the industry through harsher sentences on content pirates.
PAP was launched in 2018 in several African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Angola, and was launched in South Africa in 2022.
In South Africa, PAP is headed by the Copyright Coalition – an organisation that protects the rights of content creators and campaigns for the redrafting of the Copyright Amendment Bill.
As MultiChoice evolves from a traditional video entertainment business into a diversified platform business focused on technology, we are committed to promoting legitimate content consumption and supporting the creative industry. We look forward to strengthening partnerships with a number of stakeholders, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, to wage a coordinated war against piracy.
Marc Jury, CEO, MultiChoice South Africa
One of PAP’s partners in combatting piracy, is technology security company Irdeto, who bring extensive knowledge and experience in anti-piracy measures including over 50 years of expertise in security.
Together, PAP, Irdeto, and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development, through the Partners Against Piracy initiative, aim to make a substantial impact in preserving the integrity of South Africa’s creative industries and fostering an environment that encourages innovation and investment.
Chola Makgamathe, Chairperson, Copyright Coalition of South Africa and PAP champion in South Africa
The renewed partnership will intensify efforts to combat piracy and continue on the wins achieved by Irdeto in targeting and apprehending ring leaders of organised crime – in 2022, the cyber security business welcomed two convictions of DStv pirates who were arrested for the selling of Android TV Boxes and IPTV subscriptions.
Pirating occurs when an individual, who is not the copyright holder, copies content and resells it for a significantly lower price than what the copyright holder charges. Many preparators of piracy do not realise the impact piracy has on content creators and the economy.
According to Irdeto, people in five major African territories made a total of about 17.4-million visits to the top 10 identified piracy sites between June and August 2021, with music, literature, video content and software websites receiving the most visits.
