In the report assessing the implementation of a 1998 EU Directive on legal protection for what it calls "electronic pay services," the Commission highlighted the growing problem of audio-visual piracy.
The Directive deals with offences such as selling the type of decoding devices that let users intercept pay-TV broadcasts for free.
In the next few years, the Commission expects enormous growth in pay services over the internet, through mobile phones and television. Piracy of these services is expected to create the same problems for the movie and DVD industries as is prevalent today in the music sector.
The Commission warns that this will lead to legitimate viewers paying higher prices or losing services that become commercially unviable, and will impact on national tax revenues.
It called upon those Member States that have still to implement the Directive to do so as quickly as possible. The UK Government complied in May 2000 with its Conditional Access (Unauthorised Decoders) Regulations.
The Commission also identified a problem in the deals struck between broadcasters and programme makers. Many satellite-TV channels originating from one Member State are obtained in others illegally – because the broadcasters are forced to sell only to viewers in a single member state as a result of obligations imposed by other rights holders, such as writers, performers and sports bodies.
The solution, says the Commission, is contractual and it called upon TV companies and rights holders to resolve the issue.
Enforcement is another area in which work must be done to fully implement the Directive. The report concludes:
“It will only be possible to combat piracy effectively in Europe if pirates cannot find safe-havens. The Commission will encourage and assist Member States to co-operate effectively.”