Photo: Wikicommons" width="100%" />
Philippine media company ABS-CBN has sued 40 American websites for illegally streaming its content, the media reported yesterday.
The US$40 million lawsuit, filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, was entitled “ABS-CBN v. 123Fullpinoymovieshub.com.” The Lopez-owned broadcaster accused the websites of allegedly “pirating ABS-CBN’s content and infringing its copyrights and trademarks.”
Elisha Lawrence, ABS-CBN’s head of global anti-piracy, warned overseas-based Filipinos against watching content on these websites, saying that these may contain malware.
Read: House rejects ABS-CBN’s bid for a fresh franchise
“Watch our content on safe legitimate services such as ABS-CBN’s OTT platform iWantTFC and the TFC channel on all major cable and satellite providers,” she said.
ABS-CBN has been struggling financially since it lost its broadcasting license last year, allegedly because it violated several laws. However, the Philippine government has yet to sue the broadcast for any of its alleged infractions.
Last week the company nixed a Filipino-Chinese show on its cable channel ANC after the program was accused of promoting President Xi Jin Ping’s One Belt One Road initiative. The infrastructure strategy sees China investing in several countries in a bid to “enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future” but critics have said it was a form of debt-trap diplomacy.
