MANILA, Philippines—The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and consumer advocacy network CitizenWatch Philippines, has called on Congress to allow the government agency to block multiple websites being used for intellectual property piracy, or rolling site blocking.
Rolling site blocking, according to IPOPHL, is an anti-piracy mechanism that constantly monitors and blocks multiple sites set up by the same violator.
In a statement on Friday (June 10), IPOPHL director general Rowel Barba said this will be “disruptive as it will provide rights owners with the swift response they need in preventing further harm to their intellectual property (IP) rights and potential revenues.”
He asked that IPOPHL be allowed “to act proactively and with consistency” as online piracy continues to do “a great disservice to Filipino artists and inventors.”
Aside from passing a law that will institutionalize IPOPHL authority to block piracy sites, Barba also sought the dissolution of protocol that would require IPOPHL orders to be first validated by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) before these could be enforced. Barba said the protocol leads to “a significant delay in implementing real-time site blocking.”
Barba noted that empowering IPOPHL can further motivate copyright holders and trademark owners to file complaints against online IP violators.
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Lawyer Tim Abejo, co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines, also amplified the call to treat the proposal as priority by newly-elected legislators because the impact of online piracy was “far-reaching.”
“Clearly, it is time for the government to step in,” he said. “IPOPHL should be empowered to implement rolling site blocking to effectively purge online pirates who violate IP and threaten the viability of the creative industry.”
He also said the Philippines, as the only country in Southeast Asia that is not enforcing rolling site blocking, was “missing the opportunity to clamp down hard on these online pirates.”