The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), a video industry trade body with member-companies spread across APAC, and its anti-piracy arm, the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), along with Vidio, have hailed the West Java Regional Police for their action this week in arresting an individual behind a major piracy operation in Indonesia.

According to a media statement from AVIA, following a complaint by Vidio on October 16, the operator of the pirate sites PaseoTV and OkStream was arrested by West Java Regional Police. The sites were illegally streaming pirate content owned or licensed by Vidio, including the Premier League, Ligue Un and AFC.

OkStream was one of the most popular pirate streaming sites in Indonesia, with millions of views every month. The owner and operator of the sites also operated a Telegram account that was used to share links to Paseo and OkStream sites. He now faces potential penalties of up to eight years in prison and a fine of up to two billion Rupiah (US$126,000).

“Vidio has always been committed to being at the forefront of fighting piracy. Vidio’s piracy mitigation commitment requires collaboration not only with law enforcement and industry associations, but also cooperation with the public. Effective anti-piracy measures are critical for maintaining the integrity and sustainability of the content industry,” said Gina Golda Pangaila, Senior Vice President, Legal Anti-Piracy and Government Affairs, Vidio, in a statement.

“Indonesia has one of the best site blocking programs in Asia-Pacific, however site blocking is not sufficient alone to protect content, and action by local enforcement teams remains a vital component in protecting both the local content industry and consumers who are increasingly being targeted by pirates for the spread of malware, viruses and identify theft,” said Matt Cheetham, General Manager of CAP.

Vidio is an Indonesian OTT platform and sports programming is one of its strong points. It airs popular sports programmes, including the World Cup, Premier League, UEFA Champions League, NBA and Ligue Un. Its strong infrastructure also allows Vidio to stream matches to millions of viewers without hindrance, thereby successfully gaining recognition from Google and Akamai as one of the best practice platforms in the Asia Pacific region.