Online piracy is a global concern — almost a pandemic of its own. This was emphasized by the Asia Video Industry Association’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) in the State of Piracy Summit held in November.
“Piracy used to be seen by many as just a ‘cost of doing business’ — a loss variable that had to be factored into P&L… However, with streaming piracy now a direct competitor to our industry, investing in anti-piracy measures should become the new ‘cost of doing business’. To address the challenges of syndicated piracy, collaboration remains key and working with local coalitions and partners such as Globe Telecom is as important as working collaboratively as part of an international network,” CAP General Manager Neil Gane said at the summit.
Impact of online piracy
From movies, music, to user-generated content, piracy has been a lingering problem around the world, and this poses great challenges for businesses in the long run.
With the recent partnership of Globe with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to bring the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival entries online, this Filipino Christmas tradition will put the Philippines’ response against online piracy to the test. This year, films that were usually watched by families in cinemas during the Christmas season may now be enjoyed in the comfort of their own homes through Upstream and GMovies.
Consumers themselves are also key stakeholders in the campaign against piracy. With today’s low cost and easy access to content, consumers should no longer find a reason to consume pirated content. Globe has embraced the social responsibility of educating its customers to become responsible and intelligent custodians of content, by encouraging them to #PlayItRight.
Globe anti-piracy campaign
Globe launched #PlayItRight in 2017 with two main pillars: to surface online dangers and illustrate the negative social impact brought about by piracy. This campaign cuts across several industries: film, music, digital literacy. and education.
“In the past three years we’ve tied up with various film organizations and production outlets, constantly coming out with the impacts of piracy on jobs and lives,” said Globe Director for Content Management and Creative Services Monday Gonzalez in the “Consumer Messaging that Makes a Difference” summit panel.
This has driven the telco to maximize its influence within the education and entertainment sectors by integrating digital education into its programs. One example is the multi-awarded Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP). The program is the first of its kind to be integrated into the K-12 curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2019, through a national summit attended by over 400 DepEd representatives nationwide.
Its comprehensive modules on online safety, impact, and discernment encourage students, teachers, and parents to be responsible digital citizens, especially in a generation wherein our daily dealings are done online. DTP has evolved into a set of publicly available digital content on YouTube, which has already reached and engaged more than 800% of its initial target audience. The DTP has recently won the “Most Innovative CSR Initiative - Digital Thumbprint Program (DTP)” at the recent International Finance 8th Annual Awards, making it the sole telco in the Philippines to receive the recognition.
“We believe in the power of communications. By consistently cutting across all consumers with the message that piracy is theft, changing consumer behavior may soon follow. We believe that raising awareness on the issue of online piracy is an important first step to arriving at a lasting solution,” Gonzalez said.
