Many tech-savvy consumers are resorting to illegal torrents and illegitimate streaming services as their own best ways to enjoy their own choice of entertainment from the World Wide Web, but many of these services can create not only injustice to the people who have worked hard for the creation of entertaining content, but harm hard-earned devices of customers as well. And for two companies in the Philippines, this type of piracy becomes a serious matter and they will exert efforts to make new habits for any consumer to enjoy with or without resorting to pirates.
ABS-CBN Corporation, the premiere media and entertainment company in the country, is seeking US$40 million in damages from more than 20 websites that were being blocked and shut down for illegally showing the company's content of television shows and movies. According to ABS-CBN Global chief operating officer Raffy Lopez, more than 90 percent of the said sites contain malware that can harm internet users by stealing personal information and bank account details from their computers and mobile devices. This is a testament that the number one television station in the Philippines has zero tolerance for piracy and will continue to protect the public from resorting to the likes of the shuttered websites.
On the other hand, Globe Telecom launched its own anti-piracy campaign called #PlayItRight during the Globe Independent Film Festival Awards Night which aims to encourage mobile and broadband users and the public to play content from legitimate sources. For the definitive purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle, it is now a moral responsibility for the company to provide customers with safe and quality content, as well as to protect the intellectual property rights of the company's own original content and the licensed content of its local and global partners. The message of the campaign to the public is simple but serious - to enjoy digital content the right and legitimate way.
Companies who literally say NO to piracy have their own ways of raising awareness on how to enjoy content the right and legitimate way. But I can say that the efforts made by both Globe Telecom and ABS-CBN are statements that the culture of resorting to illegitimate streaming and downloading will begin to fade.
