Senate urged to prioritize measures vs online piracy

MANILA, Philippines — An advocacy group on Thursday said that the Senate must prioritize two measures aimed at protecting creative creators from online piracy.

CitizenWatch Philippines co-convenor and former Quezon City 6th District Representative Jose Christopher Belmonte said the current online setting in the Philippines makes it easy for operators of pirate sites to prey on original content.

“Original content is what makes creators unique and indispensable to society. The creative industry is already threatened by untrammeled artificial intelligence. It needs to be protected from those who seek to profit easily and unfairly,” Belmonte said.

“The current cyber landscape is a haven for cybercriminals stealing the intellectual and real property of netizens. No one is safe. [..] The operators of piracy websites are making a big killing out of the hard work and big investments of producers and creators of original content,” he added.

Senate Bills 2150 and 2385, filed by Senators Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, respectively, aim to give more powers to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

Belmonte added that the government should protect the intellectual properties of creative Filipinos as these are highly valued.

“If the government is not ready to support our creatives industry the way South Korea has created a global footprint for their entertainment industry, then we should at least protect the intellectual properties of our rich pool of creative talent already highly valued and making their mark in the international market,” he said.

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