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.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for
RSS