EU: Protection for encrypted broadcasts

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens’ Rights has adopted a report by Georgios Anastassopoulos (EPP, Gr) – the European Parliament vice-president – on the legal protection of encrypted broadcasting or re-broadcasting, described in the proposal for a Directive as “services based on, or consisting of, conditional access”. Both the Rapporteur and Committee took the view that the Commission proposal does not offer sufficient protection in this field. Mr Anastassopoulos believes that harmonisation must be applied at the highest possible level, to ensure that it retains all its effectiveness in a rapidly changing technological context. The Committee has accordingly tightened up the Commission’s text. The notion of “illicit device” – the term used to describe pirate encryption devices – covers any kind of equipment or software conceived, adapted or assembled with the sole purpose of enabling unauthorised access to a protected service, (for example, pirate decoders which allow access to a scrambled channel). Member States are being asked to ban within their territory the manufacture, import, sale and possession for commercial purposes of illicit devices and their marketing for purposes of direct or indirect profit. The same applies to the installation, maintenance or replacement of such devices for commercial ends. Their advertising and commercial promotion are also to be banned. Member States will be responsible, in accordance with national law, for introducing the necessary measures to ensure that service providers whose interests are damaged by an illicit activity can sue for damages and, where relevant, demand the confiscation of the illicit devices.