GECs
Content piracy on a rise in the United States
NEW DELHI: Content piracy is not declining and is still a very serious ongoing threat to copyright owners, according to findings from Rightscorp, a provider of monetisation services for artists and holders of copyrighted intellectual property (IP).
Rightscorp’s chief executive officer Christopher Sabec and president and chief operating officer Robert Steele presented key market findings at the 5th Annual Content Protection Summit 2014 during a discussion that tackled the issue of whether piracy is on the decline titled, ‘Is The Piracy Threat Decreasing? What Content Owners Need To Know Now.’
It presented an overview of the landscape of piracy from a past, present and future perspective. In the presentation, Sabec and Steele highlighted that in the United States, peer-to-peer file sharing grew 18 per cent from 2010 to 2013 on a data traffic basis.
Estimates show that over 2 billion units of movies were shared in 2013. Rightscorp estimated that music consumption on file sharing networks grew from 2.7 billion digital songs in 2010 to 8.3 billion digital songs shared in 2013.
Rightscorp also estimated that approximately 74 per cent of digital music was consumed on file sharing networks in 2013 without compensation to the copyright owners. In addition, the presentation forecast a 40 per cent increase in peer-to-peer file sharing by 2018, which includes 11.9 billion songs and over 3 billion movies illegally downloaded. Rightscorp’s estimates were based on source data from Cisco, Envisional, and Netnames.
“We have heard many people state that they believed that piracy was decreasing in the United States. We have now presented our analysis that piracy has only increased across every industry since 2010,” stated Steele.
GECs
Asianet Television Awards 2026 celebrates women power in Malayalam TV
“She is the Colour” theme honours icons as ceremony airs on March 14 and 15 at 7 PM.
MUMBAI: If television lights up living rooms, this year Asianet decided to let women provide the colour. The Asianet Television Awards 2026 turned the spotlight firmly on women empowerment with the theme “She is the Colour”, celebrating the strength, resilience and achievements of women who continue to shape society and the Malayalam entertainment industry.
The ceremony honoured several distinguished personalities whose journeys have left a lasting cultural imprint. Among them was legendary playback singer Vimala Varma, widely recognised as the first Malayalam playback singer. The evening also paid tribute to Padma Shri awardees Devaki Amma and Vimala Menon for their exceptional contributions in their respective fields.
Leading women from the Malayalam film industry were also recognised during the event, including actor Shweta Menon, who currently serves as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, and National Award winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi.
The awards ceremony brought together a glittering lineup of actors and industry figures, including Jayasurya, Vijay Babu, Asha Sarath, Lena, Esther Anil, Anumol, Akhila Bhargavan, Sarayu Mohan, Prajod Kalabhavan, Gayathri Suresh, Sabumon Abdusamad, Swasika, Tini Tom, Sijoy Varghese, Kailash, Veena Nandakumar, Sabareesh Varma, Ansiba Hassan and Dinesh Prabhakar. Kishan Kumar, executive vice president Malayalam at JioStar, was also present at the event.
Beyond individual recognitions, the awards celebrated excellence across Malayalam television, acknowledging artists and technicians whose work continues to drive the industry forward.
The evening also offered plenty of spectacle, with elaborate dance performances, stunt acts and comedy skits performed by popular television and film personalities, turning the ceremony into a full fledged entertainment showcase.
Viewers will get to watch the celebrations when the Asianet Television Awards 2026 air on Asianet on March 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday, from 7 pm onwards, bringing the star studded tribute to homes across Kerala and beyond.
