The Department of Justice in South Africa continues to champion anti-piracy initiatives by committing to the future signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Partners Against Piracy

The Department of Justice in South Africa further entrenched its commitment to the fight against content piracy at a special Partners Against Piracy (PAP) meeting held at MultiChoice (www.Multichoice.com) South Africa’s offices.

PAP and the South African Government have announced a new cooperation agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MOU presented to the Director General of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) today, is geared towards establishing a partnership for capacity building, benchmarking and experience sharing, intellectual property rights protection, training, and skills development within applicable legal frameworks.

PAP is of the opinion that once the MoU is signed, this will also strengthen future co-operation between PAP and the South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) in combating broadcasting piracy.

“Today 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 protect our creative industry so it can grow and attract investment – something that cannot happen without the Government’s intervention,” said Advocate Doctor Mashabane, Director General of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD).

In South Africa, 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 and Angola, and was launched in 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 the redrafting of the Copyright Amendment Bill.

“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 a number of stakeholders, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, to wage a coordinated war against piracy,” said Marc Jury, CEO: MultiChoice South Africa.

One of PAP’s partners in combatting piracy, is technology security company Irdeto, who bring extensive knowledge and experience in anti-piracy measures including over 50 years of expertise in security.

Chola Makgamathe, Chairperson of the Copyright Coalition of South Africa and PAP champion in South Africa states that “together, PAP, Irdeto, and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development, through the Partners Against Piracy initiative, aim to make a substantial impact in preserving the integrity of South Africa’s creative industries and fostering an environment that encourages innovation and investment.”

The renewed partnership will intensify efforts to combat piracy and continue on the wins achieved by Irdeto in targeting and apprehending ring leaders of organised crime – in 2022, the cyber security business welcomed two convictions of DStv pirates (https://apo-opa.co/3wFHKVH) who were arrested for the selling of Android TV Boxes and IPTV subscriptions.

Pirating occurs when an individual, who is not the copyright holder, copies content and resells it for a significantly lower price than what the copyright holder charges. Many preparators of piracy do not realise the impact piracy has on content creators and the economy. 

According to Irdeto, people in five major African territories made a total of about 17.4-million visits to the top 10 identified piracy sites (https://apo-opa.co/4a6bWrD) between June and August 2021, with music, literature, video content and software websites receiving the most visits. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MultiChoice Group.

MultiChoice Group Contact Details:
Litlhare Moteetee
Senior Manager
Corporate Communications 
Litlhare.Moteetee@Multichoice.co.za  

About MultiChoice Group:
MultiChoice Group (MCG), listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), is a leading provider of entertainment and related consumer services, with an expanding ecosystem, underpinned by scalable technologies, and a track record now spanning almost 40 years.  MCG provides video entertainment products and services through its linear and streaming platforms to 23.5m households across 50 countries on the African continent and continues to grow by producing and acquiring the best local, sport and international content and offering tiered subscription packages and aggregated streaming services to its customer base. MCG’s superior technology capabilities enables it to continue innovating around distribution, digital and payment solutions and content security to offer the best customer experience across the continent. Reaching up to 100 million individuals on a daily basis, the MultiChoice Group is using its scale and distribution to expand its platform to include sports betting and interactive entertainment, fin-tech services, household services (focused on internet connectivity and emergency response services) and ed-tech. Irdeto, MCG’s technology business, provides platform cybersecurity services which protect over 6bn devices and applications globally for some of the world’s best media and technology brands, as well as clients in the connected industries sector.