The general secretary of Fapav: “A phenomenon that leads to the loss of 6 thousand jobs a year”
Audiovisual piracy in Italy sucks up huge resources. The illegal market is able to steal around one billion and one hundred million euros from the country system a year and causes the loss of 6 thousand jobs every 12 months. A huge figure considering the size of the sector. More reasons to fight against what Federico Bagnoli Rossi, general secretary of Fapav, the Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content, defines as people “who know how to exploit the illegal activity very well with the sole purpose of generating business” .
A ‘job’ which, Bagnoli Rossi points out in conversation with AdnKronos, constitutes “a direct and indirect loss of turnover of the companies that deal with audiovisuals. 38% of Italians annually commit an illegal act. This makes the phenomenon very alarming, so much so that, every year, we lose about 6 thousand jobs as an industry. A number that may seem small but it is a lot when compared to the companies that work in our country “.
It is “a phenomenon that – remembers Bagnoli Rossi – assumes a more important importance even than in the past because we are in a moment of restarting our country and growth in the distribution of audiovisual content”. In this context, the “fight against piracy and the promotion and implementation of legality within the development of our sector have taken on even more importance”.
One of the paths to follow to combat illegality, in addition to the application of all legislative instruments and more, is to raise public awareness on the issue, transmitting the message that users also risk. If only because, by entrusting their data in the hands of at least dubious servers, they run the risk of being robbed. Precisely for this reason, says the Fapav secretary, “on 16 December we will launch in Rome the new pro-legality companion ‘We are stories, we are stories’ through the voices of the new generations. In fact, we will tell the stories of young people whose imagination did not stop during the lockdown period. For them it was, on the contrary, a period to think about new projects to be put in place as soon as possible “.
In addition to an awareness campaign, however, it is also necessary to act on other areas, intensifying and strengthening the lines of defense against piracy. Starting, however, from a basic consideration. The tools “we have are not enough to be able to effectively protect companies and the distribution of content by our associates – affirms Bagnoli Rossi. On the one hand, we have innumerable strengths in order to protect the contents but, on the other hand, there is a need to develop and improve the protection activity “. Having said that, Bagnoli Rossi acknowledges the police to carry out an “excellent law enforcement activity. Indeed, during the pandemic period, the Guardia di Finanza and the Postal Police carried out unprecedented actions in our country “.
“Moreover – adds the secretary Fapav – thanks to Agcom we have the possibility to block a piracy site through a precautionary measure issued in three days”. But what needs to be done in practice? Bagnoli Rossi outlines some guidelines to follow in order to disrupt piracy: “The first step – he argues – will be to ensure that, in the context of the copyright directive, the implementation of rights is functional to the protection of our industry. The second step is offered by the Digital Service Act, a regulation being negotiated in Europe. Then there is the issue of timeliness as well as the growth and development of Agcom’s anti-piracy regulation, a flexible tool that must keep up with the times, is fundamental. At this moment, then, some bills on the subject are present in the Chamber, first of all that of the Honorable Capitanio della Lega which addresses various issues of the entire audiovisual entertainment industry ”.
(by Carlo Roma)
Source-www.adnkronos.com