Content owners seek 360-degree protection as consumption habits of pirated content in the MENA region evolve. Recent research shows that laptops remain the favoured device for consuming pirated video content for a whopping 33% of respondents in the GCC.
As the regional industry suffers an estimated $500m loss each year, there is critical need for end-to-end piracy control measures ranging from effective watermarking technologies to enforcement of laws.
The 2019 MENA Anti-Piracy Conference hosted by BroadcastPro ME and SatellitePro ME brings together legal, technical, regulatory and community stakeholders to work towards a piracy-free environment for the MENA region.
Building on a successful inaugural edition in 2018, the second edition will be more ambitious in the scale of issues covered by a stellar panel of speakers representing international social media platforms, technology solutions providers, the legal fraternity and enforcement authorities, among others.
Learn about the latest threats to content and protecting IP during production and pre-release to keep your revenue in-house. Learn about new remedies post-release. Discover new and advanced technologies. Monetise the impact of regulations and case law and revamp your internal compliance programme.
Draw first-hand lessons from crackdowns by government teams in partnership with broadcasters and the MENA Anti-piracy Coalition, that have resulted in hefty fines and deportation orders. Understand the challenges in monitoring the use of illegal cable networks and hybrid decoders and keep pace with the savvy pirate.
Piracy is not a victimless crime. With research showing that 59% of viewers in Egypt and 53% in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) admitting to watching pirated video, consumer attitudes across the region is troubling. Learn how the industry and regulators are innovating to educate the consumer on the menace of piracy.
The cost and impact of piracy on pay-TV, OTT platforms and content rights holders
Live sports and piracy: The value of disruption
Understanding and combating digital piracy
Advertising and piracy: Disrupting the eco-system for pirates
The key causes of piracy in the MENA region including the diverse audience demographic
Enforcement and legal experts weigh in on the challenges and opportunities
Anti-piracy initiatives undertaken by satellite operators, telcos and other providers
Technology solutions to ensure 360-degree protection
MENA success stories including initiatives towards educating viewers and curtailing pirates
The panel speakers for the 2019 BroadcastPro ME Anti-Piracy conference are among the leading technology experts, legal minds and thought leaders working to combat piracy. From identifying and targeting potential piracy threats using regulation in conjunction with risk mitigation tactics to tackle piracy head-on, our speakers are the most authoritative and knowledgeable on this sensitive issue of piracy.
Our indepth presentations and debates will help you monitor and detect illegal streams of your content and sketch the necessary multi-pronged approach, technical, legal and social, that is needed to combat the piracy menace.
Nicki Schroeder is Discovery’s Senior Director of Global Anti-Piracy and manages the company’s strategic anti-piracy priorities and enforcement activities across its 29 network brands in 170 countries worldwide. She qualified as a solicitor in the UK in 1994, following which she spent 10 years working as a media litigator in private practice representing the major film studios and a range of UK broadcasters and production companies before moving in house. She joined Discovery in January 2019 from UK broadcaster, ITV, where she previously managed their anti-piracy activities and intellectual property strategy. She is based in London.
Frank is the Vice President of product management for Irdeto’s conditional access business lines and leads the strategic direction for Irdeto’s Android TV offering and broadcast watermarking. He oversees a global team of product management experts to define product development across these business areas and has a background of nine years’ experience in conditional access and 18 years in the media industry. Frank is an expert in content delivery platforms and holds a Masters in Computer Science from Utrecht University.
Jon Parker is one of the most prominent IP specialists operating in the Middle East today. Jon heads Gowling WLG’s Dubai –based IP team, recently awarded the 2019 MIDDLE EAST FIRM TO WATCH by Managing Intellectual Property magazine
He has been practising in the Middle East since 2006, managing IP portfolios around the region and further afield for clients. He also manages enforcement and litigation matters in the UAE and wider region for clients. He is currently involved in a cross-border IP dispute through the region for a global popstar. His client base includes a number of world famous pop stars, movie and television production companies and satellite broadcasters as well as other media and entertainment entities.
Jon has over 28 years of experience in IP related matters, including spending 10 years at the UK Intellectual Property Office where he sat as a Tribunal Member for contentious trade mark matters, before moving into private practice in 2001.
In recent times, he has assisted clients in obtaining preliminary injunctions in the UAE and Egypt for IP infringement matters, in successfully cancelling misappropriated IP rights through the UAE Courts, successful administrative enforcement of IP rights in the gulf region.
Jon is a member of the UK’s Charter Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA), and an active member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), currently sitting on INTA’s Global Advisory Board for the Middle East.
Jon is a frequent speaker and moderator on IP issues in local and international conferences. He also plays an active role in delivering training, educational and awareness sessions to companies, individuals and business groups in relation to intellectual property rights.
World Trademark Review has recognised Jon since its inaugural edition in its prestigious annual guide, WTR 1000. Jon has been recognised as a ‘trade mark star’ in the IP Stars guide since the inaugural edition. Jon has been recognised by WHOS WHO LEGAL in 2017 as the UAE’s THOUGHT LEADER FOR TRADE MARKS. He was also award the CLIENT CHOICE AWARD – UAE TRADE MARKS in 2018.
Ameet B. Naik, founder and managing partner of Naik Naik& Company, is widely regarded as one of India’s foremost entertainment attorneys. Ameet established Naik Naik& Company in 2004 when he observed a dearth of industry-focused lawyers inthe then-emerging entertainment sector in India. In a short span of time he led the firm to be ranked as a leading law firm in media and telecommunications (TMT) by Chambers Legal Diary 2007.
Ameet is renowned for his significant contribution to the evolution of Indian media laws, particularly copyright, and has litigated path-breaking and landmark casesraising issues of freedom of speech, freedom expression, censorship, infringement of copyright and certification before the higher judiciary and tribunals across the country, including the Supreme Court of India. Lauded as an authority on the subject. He has been actively involved in media law reform and development and was invited by the Indian Government as an expert on copyrightto makea representationbefore the Select Committee of Parliament prior to passage of theCopyright (Amendment) Bill,2012.
Having focused on the entertainment space for over two decades,Ameet represents major media organizations, top-tier talent, and acts as production counsel for several studios, documentaries, original productions for online/digital media, television series and specials. He is credited for conceiving and templatizing documents which have come to be used industry-wide as precedents, and which were largely instrumental in streamlining the Indian media and entertainment industry at a time when the sector was entirely disorganized. His innovative deal-making has continually challenged and altered common assumptions about distribution deals, talent deals, cross-platform deals, emerging digital media contracts, celebrity/product endorsements, and more.
Manoj A Mathew is the Territory Head at Zee Network (MENAPT). In his current role he leads the product, distribution and revenues of over a dozen pay channels in the region, 2 FTA Arabic channels and a Hindi radio station. He has over 20 years experience in the media, marketing and advertising business of which 13 are in international markets which include Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Manoj was also one of the main architects for the launch of the Zee Network’s Arabic initiative with its movie channel Zee Aflam; its general entertainment channel Zee Alwan; its Arabic language content production and of its radio business in the UAE.
He enjoys being responsible for both product and revenue side of the business, fusing content & technology, launching new products and making them commercially successful. Extensive knowledge and experience in content creation, sales, digital, distribution, and licensing. A start up specialist, he has extensive experience in project and investment appraisal, new investments, alliances, partnerships and restructuring. He constantly endeavors to fuse holistic business processes with the bottom line. Passionate about philosophy, movies and everything whisky especially single malts. He is also an avid traveler, food & beverage critique and a blogger.
Please also include what you do on the anti-piracy front. Working through Rotana and MENA Broadcast satellite Ani-Piracy coalitions to stop infringing the Arabic content via FTA channels, and centralize the authentication process for Arabic content, solving the dilemma of splitting the ownership of the negatives from the IP rights of the content.
Addy is specialized in Intellectual Property Rights (IP). He has over 12 years of experience in contentious and non-contentious IP matters, IP Management, Auditing & Valuation, Portfolio Management, Anti-Piracy, Anti-Counterfeiting and Dispute Resolution & Negotiations.
During his career span, Addy has also worked in top tier IP law firms doing work for IP rich global giants (such as Google, Intel, Shell, GSK, Harley Davidson) whilst representing them in contentious and non-contentious matters and cross border enforcement actions.
Addy speaks at various conferences on Intellectual Property, Cyber Crimes both in an out of the region. Due to his professional experiences, Addy has also been invited to present case studies in seminars and workshops organised by Interpol.
Addy is currently Senior Legal Counsel for OSN, which is MENA region’s leading pay-TV platform. As part of his role, Addy heads the IP and Anti-Piracy Legal function and works with external counsel, authorities, Hollywood studios, MPA, broadcasters, organisations and other professionals for intellectual property and content protection. During this time, Addy has initiated, prepared and managed several unique and successful copyright infringement cases in the Middle East as well as India.
Memberships and listings
Zahra Zayat is the VP and Head of Middle East and North Africa for YuppTV. She is passionate about inventing the future of TV and revolutionizing the way TV is viewed on behalf of millions of YuppTV subscribers and users around the world. Under her leadership, YuppTV has launched in the MENA and has grown to become one of the largest OTT platforms serving South Asians in the region.
Zahra is an experienced media executive with expertise in OTT, e-commerce, digital transformation, telco partnerships, market entry strategies, technology and Analytics. Prior to joining YuppTV, Zahra has held senior leadership roles at OSN and Deloitte.
Dr. Guillaume Forbin is Director – Platform and Content Security at OSN, based in Dubai. He is responsible for securing OSN Pay TV distribution platform and premium exclusive content against a wide variety of piracy threats. His team won the BroadcastProME Innovation Award in 2018 for OSN Anti-Piracy solution.
Prior to OSN, he led The Walt Disney Company content security efforts throughout EMEA by formulating and executing a regional content protection strategy for distribution deals. Guillaume also participated in the development of multiple Sagemcom devices, but also Sony Bravia TV sets throughout his career.
Guillaume holds a PhD in Computer Vision from the University of Surrey as well as a MSc in Computer Science from the University of La Rochelle.
Robert Lakos is the founder of the Deleel TV project which is dedicated to improving TV for the mass markets throughout MENA. He believes the key to a healthy TV ecosystem is vertical cooperation and coordination all the way from content and transmission through to the set-top-boxes that output to television sets in consumers’ homes.
Robert is currently working as a consultant to Eutelsat for the roll-out of the Eutelsat’s FTA EPG project in MENA. This is a new service which will launch later in 2019 providing consumers with a rich 7-day EPG service for all FTA channels at the 7/8ºW and Hotbird locations.
Robert got his start in satellite television in 1990 when he joined the sales department of US based EchoStar. He held an array of senior positions at EchoStar and its pay TV sister company Dish Network, covering sales and distribution, content acquisition, STB development, mobile television, terrestrial microwave distribution, and business development. More recently before moving on to launch the Deleel TV project he was Chief Commercial Officer of Dubai based low cost pay TV operator My-HD.
Throughout Robert’s career in satellite TV, the Middle East North African region has been a prominent part of his portfolio. His regional expertise ranges from Arabic language TV channels to souq-based distribution of set-top-boxes.
Robert studied Arabic at AUC in Cairo, Egypt, holds a BA from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and an MBA from ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona. He is fluent in Arabic, French, German and Swahili.
Farah Ramadan is Digital Planning Manager for SHAHID at MBC Group. With 16 years of experience in content, promotion, branding and media planning .She oversees a team of designers, curators, and publishers, and works closely with acquisition on buying based on trends and viewership. Since 2015 she also oversees the digital Antipiracy Department in MBC, protecting content on UGC platforms and social media, removing infringing apps and content using a variety of tools. MBC’s antipiracy team increased the number of takedowns of pirated content by 900% in the past three years.
Ahmed Abbas is the founder and CEO of DigiSay. Abbas has more than 16 years of experience in marketing and sales; having worked with various multinationals world wide. Before DigiSay Ahmed was a Marketing Manager at NetApp Germany based in Munich handling Europe, Middle East and Africa. He also played a pivotal role in producing and developing major TV shows in the MENA region as well as various types of digital content. Abbas holds an MBA in International Management from the European School of Business in Germany and is an alumni of the German School in Cairo.
A Senior executive technologist with practical 30+ years experiences in Media entertainment, Telecommunication, Broadcast business, Digital Media, Excutive managment & investment .
Has PhD in Telecommunication. Author of two renowned books in Telecommunication and Mass communications, a publisher of five international scientific research papers and an owner of two registered patiences. A member and a consultant for various telecom and broadcast industry leaders.
Dr. Naser solution architected/ Aljazeera Sports … and consultant for more than 83 international TV broadcast channels along with multi-dimentionals media and telecom facilities.
As MD & CTO of U-TO Solutions, Sumit is an avid technology enthusiast who leads a company that merges technology, innovation and business knowledge to help its clients achieve more.
Sumit is partnered by a dynamic team of skilled experts, who build industry-leading software solutions to manage content rights, usage, royalties, and other critical facets that let rights owners monetise their assets fully. Furthermore, in recent years, Sumit has steered the company towards new business in Ad Sales, helping clients manage linear and digital ad inventory.
In U-TO’s quest to add value to rights owners by enforcing compliance in both linear and digital, the company has launched a slate of technology-powered services with its partners on the anti-piracy front.
Fares Akkad is the Director of Media Partnership for Facebook and Instagram for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. In his new role, Fares looks after all media verticals including Entertainment, News, Sports, and Social Good. Fares and his team will work closely with strategic partners supporting them to leverage the Facebook tools to maximize mutually beneficial objectives. In the process, Fares aims to enhance the overall consumer experience on Facebook products.
Fares Akkad joins Facebook from MBC group where he was head of Distribution and Digital Business Development. At MBC, Fares played a key role in expanding the MBC business in areas non-related to advertising. Prior to that, Fares was in Management Consulting with Booz & Co where he lead several projects for the firm across Media, Technology and Telecommunication. Prior to that, Fares was a senior manager with KPMG Advisory services based out of Los Angeles office and primarily looking after Media and Technology acquisition deals.
Fares completed his studies in the US and holds an undergraduate degree in Bio Technology (Cum Laude), a Masters degree in Information Systems (Cum Laude) and an MBA with an emphasis in entrepreneurship and Finance (Highest Distinction).
Fares has always been passionate about entrepreneurship and startups. He has been very involved with startups both in California and Dubai and is currently an investor and active advisor to a variety of startups in the region. He is also a big advocate for Autism awareness in the region and advices several non-for-profit organizations in this field.
Fares is fluent in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. Fares has lived and worked in the US, Europe, Africa and South America and for the past 10 years has been based in Dubai where he still currently resides with his wife and 2 kids.
9:00AM
9:45AM
Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director, BroadcastPro Middle East
10:00AM - 11:00AM
Moderator: Robert Lakos, Founder, Deleel TV
Confirmed panelists:
11:00AM - 11:15AM
11:15AM - 12:00PM
Moderator: Ahmed Abbas, CEO, DigiSay
Confirmed panelists:
12:00PM - 12:15PM
12:15PM - 1:15PM
Moderator: Jon Parker, Partner / Head of IP, Gowling WLG
Confirmed panelists:
1:15PM
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23 Apr 2019
Tuesday 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Ritz Carlton JBR
Dubai, UAE
info@cpitrademedia.com
+971 4 375 5470
Dubai Studio City
Office 207 – 209, Building 3
Dubai, UAE
Vijaya Cherian
+971 4 375 5472
vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com
Raz Islam
+971 4 375 5473
raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com
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+44 773 444 2526
sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com
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