The South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has signed an anti-piracy memorandum of understanding with pay TV operator Multichoice Group to develop measures to combat piracy.
The MoU covers development and regulatory frameworks, capacity building and experience sharing, intellectual property rights protection and anti-piracy partnership, and monitoring and compliance.
DoJ’s director-general, ‘Doc’ Mashabane, said: “[This] 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 protecting our creative industry so it can grow and attract investment—something that cannot happen without the Government’s intervention.”
MultiChoice South Africa CEO Mark Jury said: “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 several stakeholders, including the department, to wage a coordinated war against piracy.”
According to the DoJ, the MoU paves the way for more effective enforcement and deterrence.
Harsher penalties
MultiChoice-supported Partners Against Piracy (PAP) said that once the MoU is signed, future cooperation between PAP and the department will be strengthened in combating broadcasting piracy.
It pointed out that 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, Angola, and 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 redrafting the Copyright Amendment Bill.
The DoJ said, “This partnership will bolster enforcement actions against piracy, sending a strong deterrent message to perpetrators and significantly aiding in the revision of pertinent laws and the enhancement of training for judicial and enforcement agencies.”
“The current legislative gaps mean there is no incentive for hosting providers and other intermediaries, including financial, to work with legitimate role-players in the Audio-Visual (AV) content value chain or with the police to reduce piracy and block online pirate websites and the sharing of pirated content.
“Ideally, such measures should form part of a broader policy and legislative response to cybercrime, cyber piracy, and cyberterrorism by blocking access to infringing domains/IP addresses, reducing harm through public education, disrupting payments, and improving financial investigation and enforcement responses to these actions.”
