A piracy comeback is feared to loom as a consequence of state censor’s tightening grip on streaming foreign television programs online.
This September, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) imposed a limit on the number of foreign television shows allowed to stream on Chinese video-streaming websites such as Youku and Sohu.
The regulations, part of a broader government campaign to tighten Internet controls and limit content for Chinese web users, capped the number of foreign shows at 30 percent of content offered by the sites, five months after four US television shows including The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife were barred from airing on video websites.
On top of the “strict implementation” of the regulations starting next year, it has also been reported yesterday that, according to a decision revealed in this year’s China Film and Television Art Innovation Summit, programming from the US, Europe and South Korea will now face a six-month delay in airing. Hitherto, shows have been available online within hours of airing in their home countries.
The six-month delay is likely to push foreign TV show viewers back into the realm of piracy, which has been alleviated to some extent over the past few years thanks to streaming websites that have snapped up copyrights to licensed TV content.
The restriction could also have a huge impact on the business models of sites such as Youku, Sohu and Tencent, who usually pay for the rights to TV shows and stream them at no cost to viewers, pulling in a profit from advertising.
Sohu, the video-streaming site which has drawn more than 120 million views a month streaming The Big Bang Theory, is estimated to be hit the hardest by the new restriction.
Last month, fans of foreign TV were alarmed by the shutdown of the country’s most popular subtitle website Shooter, where fans upload translated subtitles for users to download and imbed in (usually pirated) videos. One website offering foreign film downloads was also shut down for weeks, but later reopened after “clearing up the content.”
[images via TechinAsia]
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