News
| Title | Interview with Mr. Piset Chiyasak, the General Manager of Thai Entertainment Content Association (TECA) |
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| Date | 2009-11-03 |
According to the current issue on copyright protection which is about the amendment of copyright act in order to punish the pirated product buyer, I have gotten some comment in regards to the amendment from Mr. Piset Chiyasak, the General Manager of Thai Entertainment Content Association (TECA), who is a copyright expert and representing the music publishers and sound recording companies, both Thai and foreign. Q:Do you agree with the amendment act? A: In my personnel idea, I quite agree with the amendment even though it is a little bit strange in term of enacting a law. Generally, a law should not contain any provision in regards to punish a consumer. For instance, when we buy some pornography, we have got no punishment by Thai law. I think there is only buying drug or in some special law that the consumer is guilty. However, as I said before, I quite agree with this kind of policy. I think it will create a great impact to Thai consumers in term of building more awareness of piracy. People will recognize how important of IP protection and will prevent the copyright piracy and counterfeit goods. Anyway, in regards to the legislation, I think the government should clearly define the scope of such offense. For instance, it should be clear what kind of activity is illegal. Furthermore, the lawmaker should concerns about the numbers of illegal product or the kind of product which is bought, so that it will be fair for either party. Beside, the level of the punishment is also a matter concerned. I do not agree if the one who is guilty will be gotten a criminal punishment such as jailed or fined sentence. I think it is too much because a consumer is not a thief. I think a petty punishment as like social service is appropriate for the offense. I also worry about a problem in practice if this idea becoming a law, because the Copyright Act requires the copyright owner to file a complaint to the police before the raid. Therefore, it might be inconvenient in practice. I think it is better if the government treat it as a particular law which is not an offense concerning to copyright infringement. Q: Beside the attempt to give punishment to counterfeit buyer, are you satisfied in current government policy in relation to the suppression on copyright piracy? Please give me your comment A: I am really glad that the government pays its attention to IP violation seriously. It is the first time that the commission for IP violation suppression is established and chaired by The Prime Minister. However, I can not give any comment in regards to the policy because it has not been finalized yet. Anyway, I would like to recommend the government to create a stable action plan in order to suppress the IP violation. I think the certain plan will boost up the police and concerned officers to pay their attention to the problem. For instance, the government should select a sample area for suppressing the violation within certain period. Then, the government can evaluate the outcome of its action plan and improve it as necessary. Q:What do you think about the copyright violation via internet at this moment? A:Now a day, I think the situation of copyright piracy through internet is more serious. It might because of the higher of internet speed and advanced technology. There is not only the website for servicing illegal product, but also the community website that involved. The community website such as Hi5, My space or Twitter-which the user can upload or download a file-is able to be a way to rapidly promote a copyrighted content to online consumer but it also a way to share or spread the copyright pirated file to public within seconds. The government should have a policy in relation to the aforesaid problem. As I have heard, in Korea, they are drafting a law concerning to the online piracy by giving notice to the user. If the users download/upload copyright pirated content, they will receive a notice from the governmental authority and they might be punished if they still doing such download/upload. I think this is a very good idea for controlling the internet piracy and it must be great if Thai government can do it as well as Korea. Currently, I have heard that the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is drafting a law in relation to the personnel information of internet users, such as name or address. If the draft becoming a law, the internet user has to indentify themselves with the true information in order to use the internet. This is a great measure that can be used by the copyright owner in order to dissolve the piracy. However, I am not sure how long that it takes to become a law. ------------------------------ |
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