Senate urged to pass bills allowing IPOPHL to shut down piracy sites

A Manila-based think-tank has urged senators to pass proposed measures seeking to enable the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to shut down sites containing pirated content.

Stratbase ADR Institute president Dindo Manhit said aside from the economic toll on creative workers and on the creatives industry, piracy is a dangerous activity that compromises users’ security whenever they go to sites distributing pirated content.

He further said the users stand to lose their assets, their privacy, even be victimized and held liable because their identities have been used for criminal activities.

"We thus make an urgent call to our senators to act on the Site Blocking Bill, now pending before their chamber. This bill amends the existing Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines by enabling the IPOPHIL to shut down sites containing pirated content, thus allowing it to act swiftly in the fight against piracy," he said in a statement.

"The Legislature must step in at the soonest possible time to stop these pirates. All stakeholders have unanimously supported the immediate enactment of this bill. If the Site Blocking Bill fails to become law in this Congress, only the piracy syndicates will be celebrating," he added.

Two separate bills, Senate Bills 2150 and 2385, are currently filed in the Upper Chamber to amend the IP code and remove its existing limitations to cover electronic and online content within the definition of pirated goods.

At present, the IPOPHL, NTC, and internet service providers are only teaming up to put up stopgap measures to block sites with pirated content.

The IPOPHL earlier said that revising the 27-year-old IP code and mandating authorities to disable access to online sites infringing copyrighted materials will be much welcomed, noting that they have been advocating for its amendment and are ready to implement it once passed.

In 2022, the Philippines lost around $781 million due to the piracy of Filipino-made TV shows and movies, according to the IPOPHL.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba earlier estimated that the Philippines will have around $1 billion in revenue leakage in 2027 if concerns regarding online piracy continue.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), piracy takes away around 7.1% of the country's gross domestic product.—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News