Lawmakers yesterday urged people to watch the Olympic Games on legal streaming services only, and condemned former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and other public figures who have allegedly been viewing pirated programming on illegal streaming devices.
The government must clamp down on such practices and implement stricter controls on illegal streaming devices, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) told a media briefing in Taipei.
“It is tough to invest in and operate businesses related to the sports industry in Taiwan. People watch pirated programs by downloading them illegally and affect the revenues of companies that were willing to pay for authorized licensing and legal content,” DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said, adding that those companies could stop investing in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
That was what happened to Fox Sports, as it terminated its three sports channels in Taiwan at end of last year due to the prevalence of illegal streaming, Chuang said.
“Illegal streaming causes a vicious cycle. With no new investment coming in, Taiwan’s sports programming market shrinks year after year... It is a big loss for Taiwan’s viewers, who are left with dwindling choices,” he said.
The issue attracted public attention after P.League+ chief executive officer Chen Chien-chou (陳建州) and Chu were accused of watching Olympic broadcasts using illicit streaming devices at their homes.
Chu and Chen Chien-chou posted messages on social media, with photographs of Taiwan’s athletes in action at the Tokyo Games, to show their support.
However, the photographs were of content being streamed via a Ubox produced by the Chinese firm Unblock Tech, which is deemed an illicit streaming device, sparking a backlash online.
Chu insisted he that pays for legal content with a monthly local cable TV subscription, and that he used a “sanitized version” of the Ubox, with no software for illegal streaming.
Lawmakers at the briefing disputed his claim.
“It looks bad for Chu, trying to deceive the public about his use of a Ubox,” Chen Po-wei said. “This is a man who has recently declared that he plans to run for KMT chairman, but he installs a Chinese-made device to watch pirated content, and other Chinese-produced programming.”
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS