Internet piracy via streaming devices threatens Hong Kong’s creative industry

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Hong Kong’s then Commerce and Economic Development chief, Gregory So Kam-leung (second right), attends a meeting on the copyright bill with government representatives, lawmakers, copyright owners and net users, at the Legislative Council Complex, in Admiralty in February 2016. Photo: David Wong

Published: 5:11pm, 28 Mar 2018Updated: 12:36pm, 15 Oct 2020

In December, the District Court sent three men to prison for illegally providing paid TV channel content through video streaming devices. However, illegal streaming devices have continued to thrive and threaten the survival of the local creative industry.

The local copyright industry discovered last September that about 20 brands of infringing streaming devices were on sale in 87 shops across the city.

Most of these devices have pre-installed infringing apps for unauthorised access to copyright content. Third-party infringing apps can also be downloaded from app stores.

The recent court case has ascertained that streaming devices with applications that allow access to TV channels or films without a legitimate subscription are indeed illegal. But consumers have yet to realise the legal consequences. Copyright holders are entitled to seek civil compensation from both buyers and users of these devices.

Seen behind an installation symbolising action against copyright violation are (left to right), Youku-Todou CEO Victor Koo, Sohu CEO Charles Zhang and Tencent senior vice-president Seng Yee Lau, during a joint news conference in Beijing in November 2013. Photo: Reuters

Moreover, criminal syndicates are making huge illicit profits – first from the manufacturing and sale of illegal devices, and then the re-transmission of unauthorised content. Users of these devices are feeding the criminal gangs, while stripping industry practitioners of their rightful rewards.