EU: Plans To Protect Encrypted Signals

At a meeting in Cannes of the Association Europeene pour la Protection des Oevres et Services Cryptes (AEPOC), EC officials revealed that they are working on ways to protect encrypted television signals. The Cannes meeting focused on the loss of pay-TV subscriptions to industry resulting from the piracy of decoding devices and smartcards; such losses are estimated to amount to ECU200 million annually. The European Commission is expected to introduce a proposal for a Directive to protect encrypted signals later this year.