Lawmakers yesterday urged people to watch the Olympic Games on legal streaming services only, and condemned former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and other public figures who have allegedly been viewing pirated programming on illegal streaming devices.
The government must clamp down on such practices and implement stricter controls on illegal streaming devices, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) told a media briefing in Taipei.
“It is tough to invest in and operate businesses related to the sports industry in Taiwan. People watch pirated programs by downloading them illegally and affect the revenues of companies that were willing to pay for authorized licensing and legal content,” DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said, adding that those companies could stop investing in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
That was what happened to Fox Sports, as it terminated its three sports channels in Taiwan at end of last year due to the prevalence of illegal streaming, Chuang said.
“Illegal streaming causes a vicious cycle. With no new investment coming in, Taiwan’s sports programming market shrinks year after year... It is a big loss for Taiwan’s viewers, who are left with dwindling choices,” he said.
The issue attracted public attention after P.League+ chief executive officer Chen Chien-chou (陳建州) and Chu were accused of watching Olympic broadcasts using illicit streaming devices at their homes.
Chu and Chen Chien-chou posted messages on social media, with photographs of Taiwan’s athletes in action at the Tokyo Games, to show their support.
However, the photographs were of content being streamed via a Ubox produced by the Chinese firm Unblock Tech, which is deemed an illicit streaming device, sparking a backlash online.
Chu insisted he that pays for legal content with a monthly local cable TV subscription, and that he used a “sanitized version” of the Ubox, with no software for illegal streaming.
Lawmakers at the briefing disputed his claim.
“It looks bad for Chu, trying to deceive the public about his use of a Ubox,” Chen Po-wei said. “This is a man who has recently declared that he plans to run for KMT chairman, but he installs a Chinese-made device to watch pirated content, and other Chinese-produced programming.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS