With the recent lockdown imposed on the popular free movie website, Gamato TV, the authorities' war against online piracy in Greece has essentially begun.
Online piracy is a global phenomenon and it is noteworthy that our country continues to rank very high on the list of problematic countries, with almost 1 in 2 broadband connection holders being visitors of pirate websites, with the rate exceeding 75% among the younger ages.
The State, however, is deprived of resources that alone for the audiovisual projects of the members of the EPOE exceed 315 million euros annually.
Additionally, it is estimated that another €600 billion is lost from audiovisual works outside the EU, and at least €400 billion from books, software and music. That is, in total at least €1.3 trillion.
Cooperation of the Authorities for the control of tax evasion
According to well-informed sources from zougla.gr, for quite some time, the EPOE (Company for the Protection of Audiovisual Works), in cooperation with the Cybercrime Unit, the Judiciary, Interpol, and other foreign services, are discussing a plan whose goal is to abolish and shut down all websites that offer free movies and related content.
At the same time, a large campaign against tax evasion by the administrators of these sites is being prepared.
In the first phase, the money that is collected from online piracy will be examined.
According to the plan, in the first phase the money that is collected from online piracy will be examined, through American companies from our country and funneled into banks and offshore companies abroad.
In this way, the authorities aim to identify millions of euros in dirty money that has been laundered for years due to piracy.
At the same time, as zougla.gr is aware, all revenues earned by administrators in Greece from websites that provide free movies, series, etc. will be audited.
Characteristic of the profits earned by administrators of such websites is the recent case of Gamato TV and The Greeks.com.
In the first case, the administrators are being investigated for an amount of 230 million euros abroad, while in the second case, 250,000 euros were found in the account of the Greek-German administrator.
How the blocking of sites with pirated movies is being planned
Sources from ELAS emphasize that if the state assists in this campaign, the goal can be achieved next semester.
Ideas to block the IPs of pirate websites.
According to cybercrime experts, the country could be freed from online piracy if the IPs of all these websites are blocked. This thought exists to happen even on torrents, i.e., also on movie downloads.
With a special legislative framework, the Cybercrime Prosecution will be able to proceed with blockings.
The Italian model
Sources from the EPOE explain that the Italian government, in order to promptly address online piracy, proceeded with the creation of an independent authority, AGCOM, which has the authority to order the blocking of a website with illegal distribution of movies, music, books, software, etc.
In its first year of operation, at least 230 such websites have been blocked, resulting in the state earning revenue.
The Greek Government already knows this proposal, as according to information there have been meetings with government officials on this specific issue. At the same time, the government has data on the money that the public sector could collect, provided that online piracy decreased. Of course, political will and the implementation of measures remain necessary.
They are also pressuring the USA
It is of great interest that two major film unions are urging the US government to criminalize streaming. The two largest film unions describe streaming as the preferred current visual experience and argue that all parties involved violate copyright and should face prison sentences.
As reported by secnews, according to US legislation, streaming and file-sharing are considered two separate offenses. Not only from a technical standpoint, but also in criminal prosecution.
Streaming is characterized as public display, rather than distribution, and is treated as a misdemeanor, not a felony.
The announcement of the Hellenic Film and Television Federation on the Gamato TV case:
"On the occasion of the recent Police operation and the arrest of the administrator of the most popular Greek illegal website (GAMATOTV.COM), through which tens of thousands of film works were available to its users without any permission from the creators of the works, we would like to congratulate the Hellenic Police and especially the Director and the executives of the Electronic Crime Prosecution Directorate, for their continuous and successful actions in the effort to suppress a phenomenon, which, having taken on uncontrolled proportions, tends to completely destroy intellectual creation and the corresponding sectors of the economy in our country.
Based on evidence that emerged from reliable measurements of internationally recognized websites for online research and statistics (ALEXA, SIMILAR-WEB etc.) it was found that through the website GAMATOTV.COM, its users watched daily at least nine hundred thirty thousand (930.000) movies and TV series. This illegal activity caused significant damage to the rights holders, which, with conservative calculations, amounts to four hundred sixty‑five million (465.000.000) euros – throughout the entire operation of the website – while the corresponding loss to the State from evaded Value Added Tax and Income Tax revenues is estimated at approximately two hundred thirty million (230.000.000) euros.
The above amounts arise from data that have been submitted and are included in the filed case file against the administrators of the GAMATOTV.COM website, which is in an investigative stage for the investigation of the criminal nature of this case.
The online «piracy» is a global problem and it is noteworthy that our country continues to rank very high on the list of problematic countries, with almost 1 in 2 broadband connection owners being visitors of «pirate» websites, with the percentage exceeding 75% among the younger ages.
At the international level, the audiovisual sector maintains its turnover by developing new forms of exploitation. In Greece, with these «piracy» there is no room for investment or creation of new productions. The turnover of legitimate businesses – those that remain – has dropped dramatically, tens of thousands of jobs have already been lost, and the State is deprived of significant resources that, only for the audiovisual works of the members of the EPOE, exceed €315 million annually. These amounts, as fiscal revenues, are lost from the real economy, while at the same time some opportunists collect huge sums -«black» and untaxed- at the expense of creators.
The Greek judiciary has already ruled in many similar cases that have reached the courts, at A’ as well as B’ level with heavy punitive decisions. Indicatively, in a recent decision of the Monolithic Criminal Court of Athens, severe penalties were imposed at A’ level on the owners and administrators (6 years of imprisonment and 20,000€ and 3 years of imprisonment and 8,000€ respectively) of a similar «pirate» website, who, as proved in the Court, obtained hundreds of thousands of euros from the illegal reproduction and distribution of audiovisual content via the internet using torrents and links. This decision complements a broader number of similar punitive decisions, sending a clear and loud message to those who maintain but also participate in similar illegal sites as well as to those who seek financial benefit through the illegal exploitation of content protected by the provisions of Copyright and related rights.
It is a given that suppression measures are not enough to limit this phenomenon which has complex socio-economic aspects. Additionally, proper information is needed to raise public awareness and especially to make the youth realize that «piracy» brings consequences not only of an economic nature, but much more contributes to the restriction of artistic productions and the decline of domestic enterprises, resulting in more unemployment. Political will is also needed to adopt more effective protection measures so that incentives exist for the development of artistic creation and the investments around it».
Source: zougla.gr
