China International Communication Co Ltd (CICC), the sole distributor of Great Wall TV, has issued a formal statement aimed at pirate Chinese TV operators:
CICC is a wholly owned subsidiary of China International Television Corporation (CITVC) and is the only company approved by China’s State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) to have exclusive overseas copyright of the Great Wall TV package.
It has come to CICC and SARFT’s attention that the overseas piracy of Chinese TV channels has worsened in recent years. With the full support of SARFT, CICC has released a formal statement noting that all Chinese TV channels broadcast overseas are required to be evaluated and approved by the national authority, SARFT. All operators must have legal broadcast rights and strictly comply with all relevant provisions. CICC along with domestic copyright agencies and overseas partners will actively seek justice against all unauthorized operators distributing Chinese TV to overseas Chinese.
The statement stressed that the “Great Wall TV” package is China’s only TV package authorized by SARFT to be broadcast overseas. Currently only the following five TV operators are authorized to carry the Great Wall TV package in North America: DISH Network (US), KyLinTV (US/Canada), Rogers (Eastern Canada), Bell (Parts of Canada) and Telus (Parts of Canada). All other unauthorized operators or resellers distributing the Great Wall TV package or any of its channels by any means, or advertising the names or logos of any of its channels in any forms are considered piracy.
Many unauthorized Chinese TV operators can be found throughout Chinese communities in North America. These operators offer low quality services and unreliable viewing experiences. Customers using their service often experience all types of issues including TV screen freezing, loss of signal, poor picture quality and heavy buffering, etc. and do not receive any proper customer or technical support.
Furthermore, these operators who operate without official authorization even publicly advertise false statements claiming they are approved by SARFT, the only overseas Chinese iPTV, or that they receive support from the China authority, deceiving consumers. Some companies also offer pirated content and claim this content is uploaded by their users to avoid legal action against them. CICC firmly believes these practices not only violate the law but also greatly invade the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, disrupt the overseas Chinese TV market and damage the image of China’s initiative in protecting copyrighted content. For these reasons CICC has decided to take all necessary actions to eliminate all pirate operators.
As a result of potentially banning unauthorized operators, consumers are advised that their Chinese TV service could be interrupted at any time. CICC advises overseas Chinese to only subscribe to Chinese TV services provided by those operators with proper authorization to ensure the best TV viewing experience and protecting the legal rights of the viewer.
For more information on this statement released by CICC (Beijing) please visit the official website at http://www.citvc.com.
(Source: China International Communications Co. Ltd, Beijing)
