• chevron_right

      Vietnam loses its second president in two years amid concerns for political stability

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 21 March - 05:48

    Vo Van Thuong has resigned after just over a year, as the country continues its ‘blazing furnace’ anti-corruption drive

    Vietnam’s government has announced the resignation of its second president in as many years amid an anti-corruption drive, sparking concerns for the country’s political stability.

    President Vo Van Thuong’s alleged “violations and flaws have negatively affected public perception, as well as the reputation of the party and the state”, state media reported on Wednesday, citing an announcement from the Central Committee of the Communist party of Vietnam. No further details of any alleged violations were released.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Vinfast continue à dépenser comme s’il était Tesla, sa nouvelle lubie : un réseau de recharge mondial

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Tuesday, 19 March - 06:20

    Le constructeur automobile vietnamien Vinfast lance son propre réseau de recharge pour ses voitures. Il veut en plus développer l’entreprise, nommée V-Green, dans le monde entier.

    • chevron_right

      Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell review – jewel of slow cinema is a wondrous meditation on faith and death

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 5 March - 13:00 · 1 minute

    Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam

    The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. It’s a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. It’s compassionate, intimate, spiritual and mysterious in ways that reminded me of Tsai Ming-liang or Edward Yang.

    Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is presented in a calm, unforced realist style with many long, unbroken middle-distance shots, with closeups a rarity. There is a flashback and a dream-sequence presented in exactly the same way, leading to the woozy feeling that past and present, reality and reverie are all folding in on each other. The refusal of explicit emotion does not prevent one fiercely erotic kissing scene, or a moment where a young woman declares her adoration for Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and wonders aloud: “Why can’t they make movies like that any more?” I can actually imagine Bob Rafelson making this film in 1972 (at half the length) with the same narrative structure, the same elements of midlife male crisis and regret.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      A moment that changed me: I patronised a refugee – and he taught me an invaluable lesson

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 28 February - 07:00

    When Mr Tienh offered to treat me to lunch, I declined, embarrassed, assuming he couldn’t afford it. This insult to his dignity led to a flash of insight that would last a lifetime

    It says something that I only remember him as “Mr Tienh”. The small man who taught me such a big lesson may at some point have told me his first name, but it was not one I ever used. Mr Tienh must have been in his 50s, while I was only a few years out of school. So, out of respect, “Mr” he was introduced as, and “Mr” he remained.

    Back in his home country of Vietnam, the younger generation would automatically have accorded him the same courtesy, particularly given his position as a schoolteacher. But Mr Tienh no longer had a teaching job, nor any job at all. We met in the refugee camp where he was stuck, and where I volunteered, about 70 miles east of Bangkok.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Rightsholders Brand Vietnam an Online Piracy Haven & Demand Action

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Monday, 5 February - 07:57 · 4 minutes

    vietnam wall flag In recent years, copyright holders have paid close attention to a growing number of large piracy services with connections to Vietnam.

    Representatives of the Motion Picture Association ( MPA ) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment ( ACE ), went as far as traveling to the Asian country to discuss the problem with local authorities.

    The problematic sites and services, which include Fmovies, AniWave, 123movies, BestBuyIPTV, 2embed, and Y2mate, have many millions of monthly users globally. Several attempts have been made to alert the authorities to these ‘criminal’ platforms but to date, criminal convictions have proven elusive.

    IIPA Flags Vietnam as a Piracy Haven

    To strengthen its call for action, the International Intellectual Property Alliance ( IIPA ) urges the U.S. Trade Representative ( USTR ) to assist. The IIPA represents the interests of prominent rightsholder groups, including the MPA, RIAA, and ESA, and highlights the Vietnam problem in its recent “ Special 301 ” recommendation.

    “Vietnam has become a leading global exporter of piracy services and Vietnamese operators have been associated with some of the world’s most pervasive piracy websites, causing significant damage to both the local and international marketplaces,” IIPA writes.

    prio watch list

    It’s no secret that many large pirate sites and services have links to Vietnam and local authorities are aware of at least some of them. While this has resulted in some enforcement action, the first piracy-related criminal conviction has yet to take place.

    A high-profile conviction would reassure rightsholders and other companies considering investments in the country, IIPA reasons, while noting that the country is currently seen as a “piracy haven”.

    “The Government of Vietnam should recognize that securing the country’s ‘first’ criminal copyright conviction would provide significant reassurance to companies that are considering investing in local content and provide rights holders with a better understanding and assurance regarding the required criminal process,” the IIPA notes.

    “The criminal enforcement path available against these sites and their operators remains excessively long and lacks transparency.”

    Music Pirates

    The IIPA highlights several concrete piracy challenges, which aren’t limited to video entertainment. Recent survey data released by music industry group IFPI showed that roughly two-thirds (66%) of Vietnamese respondents between the age of 16-44 regularly pirate music. That’s well above the global average.

    A popular option to obtain copyrighted music is through YouTube-ripping platforms such as Y2Mate, which reportedly has links to Vietnam. The site blocked visitors from the US and UK in 2021, but that decision was recently reversed.

    “Importantly, Y2Mate is one of a network of seven globally popular stream-ripping sites believed to be operating from Vietnam,” IFPI writes.

    “Although the operator of Y2mate.com voluntarily geo-blocked access from the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the site is once again accessible from these countries, and while the site was geoblocked the operator set up alternative stream-ripping sites.”

    Persistent Movie/TV Pirates

    Y2mate isn’t the only site persisting with its piracy activities. There’s a pattern of Vietnamese sites and services ostensibly giving in to legal pressure, only to later reappear with a twist.

    As reported here earlier, ACE previously tracked down the operators of 2embed and zoro.to, who appeared cooperative after they were paid a visit. However, those actions didn’t have a lasting effect.

    Zoro.to was reportedly ‘ acquired ‘ by a new team, who kept the site online under the Aniwatch brand . Similarly, 2embed’s ‘ shutdown ‘ had little effect as a new 2embed swiftly replaced it , presumably with links to the old team.

    Zoro -> Aniwatch

    animwatch-rebrand

    In its recommendation to the USTR, the IIPA highlights both events as key examples of the enforcement challenges rightsholders face in Vietnam.

    “Both 2embed and zoro.to were being operated by the same network of identified operators. In a Knock-and-Talk operation in July 2023 undertaken by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) the operators of these sites handed over administrative control of the primary and associated domains.”

    “However, in a matter of weeks a new domain (aniwatch.to) replaced zoro.to and thereafter a new domain (2mbed.me) replaced 2embed.to. Criminal enforcement action by the [Ministry of Public Security] is needed to close such expansive piracy networks,” IIPA adds.

    Criminal Enforcement, Please

    Legally, Vietnamese authorities have the power to act against these piracy moguls. In 2018, copyright infringement offenses were added to the country’s Criminal Code. Practical challenges remain, however.

    In 2021, there was some hope when Vietnamese police questioned the alleged founder and two employees of the notorious piracy site Phimmoi.net. However, no charges were filed as a result and local authorities eventually suspended the investigation.

    More recently, ACE submitted criminal referrals targeting Fmovies and BestBuyIPTV to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Thus far, these cases are still ‘stuck’ in processing, IIPA says, with little sign of progress.

    “[T]here remains a lack of transparency and clarity with the MPS continuing to request additional evidence without explanation or reasoning, potentially using the opaque process as a pretext to delay the investigation or not pursue a prosecution,” IIPA writes.

    It’s clear that rightsholders are becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation. The IIPA suggests a more robust enforcement framework should be a top priority for 2024.

    “Establish a robust enforcement framework and ensure enforcement officials […]investigate and criminally prosecute commercial-scale piracy sites and services as well as bring administrative actions.”

    ustr enforce

    The above is just a small selection of IIPA’s comments and suggestions for Vietnam, which go far beyond the need for criminal action.

    The ultimate conclusion is that Vietnam deserves to be called out on the USTR’s “Priority Watch List” in the upcoming Special 301 Review.

    IIPA’s 2024 Special 301 Report on Copyright Protection and Enforcement, which includes all Vietnam references, is available here (pdf)

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

    • chevron_right

      Vietnam’s Pirate Site Blocklist Quietly Adds Torrent Sites

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Sunday, 21 January - 18:21 · 4 minutes

    vietnam wall flag In recent years, Hollywood has played close attention to major pirate sites and services with connections to Vietnam.

    Representing rightsholders, MPA and ACE visited Vietnam last year to discuss piracy-related challenges with local authorities.

    The focus on Vietnam resulted in some progress. Anti-piracy coalition ACE previously shut down popular video piracy library 2Embed following negotiations with its Hanoi-based operator. Anime piracy giant Zoro.to fell too, although that one continues under new branding, supposedly with a fresh team of operators.

    It’s clear, however, that Vietnam has Hollywood’s full attention. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is aware of the challenges too, as made clear in the most recent Special 301 Report.

    “In particular, online piracy, including the use of illicit streaming devices and associated piracy applications to access unauthorized audiovisual content, remains a significant concern,” USTR wrote.

    Vietnam’s Blocking Efforts

    While some believe that Vietnam’s copyright enforcement arsenal is below par, the country does have a weapon the U.S. lacks. Site blocking is commonplace and widespread in the south-Asian country.

    The Vietnamese authorities are actively ordering site-blocking measures of varying degrees. Best known, perhaps, is the government’s crackdown on gambling sites, which are deemed illegal in the country.

    More recently, however, sites have also been blocked for copyright infringement. A few months ago we highlighted that 1,000 domains were blocked for this reason in just 12 months.

    Interestingly, many of the larger movie and TV show streaming sites escaped this early wave. Blocking efforts mostly targeted live sports streaming sites , while other categories were left untouched. At least, for the time being.

    More Pirate Site Blockades

    Earlier this month, the Vietnamese authorities, in ‘coordination’ with ISPs, appear to have broadened their scope. There are reports of multiple torrent sites being blocked now, which TorrentFreak confirmed with a local resident.

    Names that are mentioned include anime site NYAA.si, torrent indexers TorrentGalaxy and 1337x, as well as the game release site FitGirl-Repacks.

    While results may vary between ISPs, our information suggests that a blocking notification isn’t always shown. Sites simply become unreachable, with the DNS for some pointing to 127.0.0.1; effectively null routing the connection attempt.

    nullroute

    There is no mention of these new blocking efforts in local media that we’re aware of. However, several people are discussing these and other problems on the Vietnamese forum VOZ.

    “Can anyone download on Fitgirl without having to turn on VPN? Even when I get the 1337x link, it won’t let me download it, it’s completely blocked,” one user writes , with others confirming the problem.

    In other threads, similar blocking problems are discussed by VOZ users, all fairly recently.

    Recognized Threat

    To find out more, we reached out to Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication, requesting more details on this apparent new blocking wave. Unfortunately, however, we didn’t hear back.

    Jan van Voorn, head of the anti-piracy group ACE, has experience with Vietnam and informs us that the authorities have blocked quite a few sites over the past several months.

    Van Voorn further notes that ISPs have a commercial interest in blocking pirate sites and calls on the government to tackle local piracy syndicates

    “Content is becoming an important business model for the major ISPs in Vietnam. From our numerous meetings with them, it is apparent that they recognize the need to protect that content,” Van Voorn tells us.

    “It is hoped that the Vietnamese government will also recognize the need to protect both local and international content rather than allow Vietnamese piracy syndicates to enrich themselves from this illegal act.”

    These syndicates would include Fmovies , according to ACE’s definitions. Interestingly, however, that popular movie streaming site isn’t blocked by Vietnamese ISPs, according to our source.

    Transparency and Overblocking

    Unfortunately, there’s not much transparency around the current pirate site blocking efforts in Vietnam. This makes it hard to get confirmation or provide an overview of all the sites that are blocked.

    The lack of transparency also makes it hard for the public at large to know what’s going on. If a site is inaccessible, without a blocking notice, it remains guesswork whether it’s downtime, technical problems, or an ISP blockade. Needless to say, this also makes it harder to spot overblocking incidents.

    For the gambling-related blocks, blocking is easier to spot. Visitors will see a banner, such as the one that’s shown below, which includes the following warning.

    “Participating in gambling is a violation of the law. […] The police will save this access log for collection and processing! All information is sent to the police for investigation.”

    This is a stark warning that should make prospective gamblers rethink their options. And not just gamblers either. Zooming in on the banner above shows that visitors to the popular GameFAQs website are blocked too.

    We would like to say that targeting GameFAQs can be classified as overblocking but, then again, that’s a gamble.

    Flag image credit .

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

    • chevron_right

      Hope For Hollywood? Vietnam Police Raid Movie Piracy Group, Three Arrested

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Wednesday, 10 January - 14:11 · 2 minutes

    vietnam bilutvt Vietnam’s approach to the protection of intellectual property rights has long been criticized by the United States, earning the country prominent placement in successive USTR Special 301 Reports.

    With the world’s largest online piracy operations now publicly linked to Vietnam, Hollywood has been urging authorities to take meaningful enforcement action. A criminal complaint against the operator of Phimmoi.net had previously offered some optimism but for reasons that still aren’t clear, local authorities suspended the investigation.

    News that police in Vietnam have just arrested three men behind an illegal streaming operation could be a step in the right direction, even if MPA/ACE had bigger fish in mind when they visited Vietnam last summer.

    Alleged Leader Arrested

    Reports that authorities had made three arrests first appeared on Tuesday. Information supplied by the Quang Binh Provincial Police Department and later reported by state-controlled media, claims that Phan Ngoc Tuan, a resident of Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province, is the leader of a piracy group behind the websites bilutvt.net, tvhayh.org and animefull.net.

    TV Report on the Arrests

    According to the authorities, 30-year-old Tuan sought to buy source code for the sites back in 2019. The aim was to launch services that would distribute movies to the public, without permission from rightsholders, for the purpose of generating illegal profits from advertising.

    Hired Online, Two ‘Employees’ Also Arrested

    It’s alleged that Tuan later went on to recruit two men, 24-year-old Ngo Quang Huy and 25-year-old Nguyen Thanh Nhan, both of Ho Chi Minh City. According to the authorities, the men never met in person, since all duties were assigned via Telegram.

    Police say Huy and Nhan were tasked with downloading, editing and distributing movies, but offered no specific details in relation to that work. Images of all three men have since been published online, but the main focus is on alleged ringleader, Phan Ngoc Tuan.

    Three suspects arrested (image credits: 1 , 2 ) vietnam arrests

    Profits From Advertising

    Information released by the authorities states that Tuan tried to stay in the shadows by using “anonymous intermediary servers” and rented movie storage servers located overseas. In total, police say that Tuan stored 188,322 movie files, around 40TB of data.

    During the raid on his home, police seized two desktop computers, a laptop and a tablet device, a “high-speed wifi transmitter” and three mobile phones. Three bank accounts were also seized. No value was placed on deposits but its claimed that Tuan generated profits of 80 to 100 million VND per month (US$3,300 to US$4,100) to an estimated total of 3 billion VND (US$123,000)

    The authorities are being especially clear on the alleged offenses and which laws apply.

    The confirmed prosecution will be for “Infringement of copyright and related rights” under Article 225 of the Penal Code; when a person (without the permission of the copyright holder) intentionally copies a copyrighted work and/or distributes copies of the work to the public, that person can be criminally prosecuted.

    Whether the type of advertising deployed on Tuan’s sites will form part of the prosecution is unclear, but illegal gambling ads are clearly visible on bilutvt.net, which for unexplained reasons is still online.

    Anti-piracy PSA from Vietnam

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

    • chevron_right

      Premier League Players Ask Fans to Dump Piracy, Pirate Sites Seem Oblivious

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Wednesday, 3 January - 12:06 · 5 minutes

    xoilac-11 Piracy of top-tier football matches is an extremely hot topic in countries playing host to Europe’s most significant leagues.

    From Serie A in Italy to La Liga in Spain, physical and psychological battles are being fought against piracy services and increasingly those who frequent them. In the UK, where broadcaster Sky reportedly needs to recover at least £5m for every matched aired , following a record-breaking deal with the Premier League, nothing is being left to chance and few measures left off the table.

    At least until now, however, Premiership stars themselves haven’t ventured too near to the front lines. Whether that’s by choice or design isn’t clear but a lecture from someone who earns more in a day than many fans do in a year could be even more disastrous than it sounds. Indeed, the fight against piracy effectively firewalls players behind their clubs, which in turn are shielded from controversy by the Premier League.

    Despite the Premier League acting as a business venture in which the clubs are the major shareholders, negative publicity rarely travels down the line. In contrast, the Premier League’s latest anti-piracy campaign in Asia appears to have no issue putting the stars right up front.

    Different Approach Elsewhere

    The Premier League’s ‘Boot Out Piracy’ campaign hopes to reduce piracy in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Vietnam. In broad terms the campaign mirrors the strategy in the UK and consists of almost identical messaging; fans who watch matches via illegal services expose themselves to risks including malware, ransomware, identity theft, and various other scams.

    Where the Asia campaign differs is the participation of Premiership stars including Casemiro (Manchester United), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Julio Enciso (Brighton & Hove Albion), Abdoulaye Doucouré (Everton), and Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest).

    For reasons that have probably been researched in depth, putting Premiership players directly in front of fans in Asia appears to carry less risk. Whether that will make much of a difference on the ground in Vietnam remains to be seen.

    Piracy Rampant, Despite 100% Availability

    The ‘Boot Out Piracy’ campaign is in its third year in Vietnam and still battling against rampant piracy. While local rightsholders are more vocal, the authorities are giving a very good impression of having almost no interest in doing anything about it. Noises are made , laws are passed , but very little seems to get done. That can have consequences for legal content availability but to date, access to Premier League content remains unaffected.

    Unlike in the UK, fans in Vietnam enjoy total access to Premier League action. Available from broadcaster K+, the ‘ K+ Pack FULL ‘ package includes all regular channels, movies and live sports, Premier League included. That means every single match (including on Saturdays), live, for the entire season, in HD.

    The price for everything is 175,000 Vietnamese dong or just £5.70 per month. There are cost of living differences to take into account but even then, Saturday games in the UK are effectively priceless, pirate services aside.

    Every Match, All Season Long KPlus-PremierLeague

    Whether Casemiro’s charm can turn the tide is unclear. Even an appearance by Marcus Rashford in previous years couldn’t stop the masses from pirating. That being said, for a subsection of fans, finding the money to gamble while watching Premier League matches on pirate sites doesn’t appear to present as many challenges as finding 175,000 dong to pay the Premier League.

    Gambling Crackdown Benefits Premier League

    As reported in 2023 , ISPs in Vietnam periodically receive instructions from the authorities to block or take other action against various sites. In media reports the platforms are regularly described as copyright-infringing, since they typically offer Premier League, Serie A and La Liga matches without appropriate licensing.

    However, most blocked or otherwise sanctioned sites have something else in common; the promotion and provision of direct access to illegal gambling services, something the authorities appear much less willing to tolerate.

    viet-adblock TorrentFreak obtained the latest Ministry of Information and Communications list, titled “Danh sach website cö däu hiéu vi Pham phäp luat” or “List of websites that violate the law.”

    It contains over 400 domain names and, according to metadata, was last updated on December 26, 2023. Around 200 of those domains, the new additions, are dated December 2023.

    The laws the sites allegedly violate are not part of the record but from our sampling, links to gambling is the common denominator. The Ministry of Information and Communications expects companies in the advertising sector to avoid placement of ads on these platforms, many of which are illicit football streaming platforms or services offering text updates on live matches.

    Sticky Rice Domains Head The List

    Running in various forms since 2016, the most notorious pirate streaming site brand in Vietnam is ‘Xôi Lạc’ or ‘Sticky Rice’. There are at least six Xôi Lạc domains in the list including a trio occupying the first three slots.

    The big question is whether being placed on the list has any effect on a site’s ability to do business. When checking ‘Xôi Lạc’ domains, it becomes immediately obvious that the platform has already taken countermeasures and, effectively, is no longer on the list.

    For example, the blacklisted domain xoilacchamtv.org already diverts to a new domain, xoilac12h.com, which is not on the list. The same is true for xoilacchamtv.com, which diverts to the same new domain. As the image below shows, last evening ‘Xôi Lạc’ was offering the usual selection of top-tier football matches from the UK, Italy, Spain and beyond.

    As outlined in red, the site reported that live matches were available on Tuesday, but without advertising .

    Whether the claimed lack of advertising has anything to do with the new advertising blacklist isn’t clear but in any event, the claim ‘no advertising’ deserves a little more nuance.

    The screenshots below show a snapshot of two games illegally broadcast via Xoi Lac domains last evening (red denotes blacklisted domain, green denotes domain diversion). On the left is a game from Serie A and on the right, a match from the Premier League, both supposedly available without advertising.

    In the left-hand image the expanded chatbox shows that ads for gambling services are still being promoted as usual but by placing them inside a chatbox, users of the site can plausibly face the blame.

    The other striking thing about these sites is what appears to be a significant number of English speakers, suggesting that the platforms are having an effect beyond Vietnam’s borders. That’s a problem also faced by Hollywood, but there are few signs anything can or will be done about that anytime soon, regardless of content.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

    • chevron_right

      Disney Pulls TV Channels From Vietnam, Govt. “Concerned” Piracy Will Run Riot

      news.movim.eu / TorrentFreak · Thursday, 16 November - 17:56 · 3 minutes

    disney Given the sheer scale and reach of pirate sites either operated from Vietnam, or with direct connections to Vietnam, describing the country as a global piracy problem wouldn’t be a stretch.

    After being briefed by Hollywood for the umpteenth time, that’s certainly the view of the United States government. Yet despite reported progress, including an overhaul of Vietnam’s copyright laws and promises to crack down on piracy, including the formation of a specialist anti-piracy unit , nothing has had any visible effect.

    However, turn off a few legal TV channels inside Vietnam and suddenly piracy is a real concern.

    International Pay TV Channels Withdraw

    Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, a media outlet owned by the Communist Party of Vietnam, published a report yesterday claiming that during October and November, TV channels “disappeared” from pay TV subscription packages. National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild were named specifically along with their owner, Disney.

    Other channels under the same ownership including Fox Movies, Fox Sports, Disney Channel and Disney Junior, were previously withdrawn, the paper reported.

    To explain the exodus, the article cites Nguyen Thanh Lam, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Information and Communications. He says that film companies and other entertainment content businesses, Disney included, believe that traditional television has run its course and video-on-demand services are the future.

    Since launching the Disney+ service, the article continues, Disney has begun to put everything it has onto the platform; it even had a message during the service’s launch ceremony: “Goodbye cable TV.”

    Disney+ is indeed widely available; Aladdin and Anastasia can be viewed in Algeria and Albania, Bambi and Bagheera in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately nothing for Vietnam, though, since Disney+ isn’t available there.

    The article stresses the entire Southeast Asian market has seen international TV companies withdraw content but according to recent data, Disney+ is available in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

    As things stand, there’s no real option to view the lost channels in Vietnam anymore, at least not legally.

    Vietnam’s Government Voices Piracy Concerns

    The theory that making content legally available is the only way to ensure legal sales appears clear to Vietnam’s government. The last thing a market needs is a gap opening up for pirates to exploit, as the article explains:

    According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, although the withdrawal from the pay cable TV market in Vietnam is due to a change in the business orientation of the above channels, this also raises many concerns about the gap that these channels will leave behind. What is left is an opportunity for pirates, pirated websites, and illegal profits to run rampant when people’s need to watch sports, watch movies, listen to music….is very large

    To show the scale of the demand, the article cites figures compiled by the Ministry of Information and Communications. As of October 2023, the number of pay TV subscribers in Vietnam reached 18.7 million, an increase of 12.3% over the same period last year. Pay TV revenue as of the third quarter of 2023 had reached VND 7,500 billion ($307.5 million), up 1.4% over the same period in 2022.

    The government is apparently seeking recommendations on which companies can step in to fill the pay TV gap; it also appears to be painting the loss as an opportunity.

    “From a positive perspective, the withdrawal of international television channels is also an opportunity for domestic television channels to have more customers,” the Communist Party-owned publication notes. “Besides, if people continue to support pirated websites, businesses providing official services will no longer buy copyrighted content at high costs – something that happened in the past. At that time, people will also be disadvantaged.”

    If Only Someone Could Do Something

    Regardless of the overt or underlying reasons for withdrawing the channels, entertainment companies have a primary mission to generate profit and if a business is profitable in certain regions or product areas, those are only discarded for exceptional reasons. There are significant problems in Vietnam regarding the country’s Cinema Law (report, page 10 ( pdf )) but the piracy problem never gets any better.

    When Vietnam did conduct some kind of crackdown, the focus wasn’t on U.S. content being pirated and then distributed all over the world, it was on pirated sports content from overseas being consumed inside the country. Blocking a reported 1,000 sites presented few problems for the authorities then.

    Yet according to the U.S. Department of Trade, despite Vietnam being host to the world’s “most egregious piracy sites” there is no clear or effective enforcement path available against these sites or their operators.

    From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.