OSN distributors threaten to clamp down on illegal DTH receivers from India

[bsaambl]

Pay TV platform OSN’s official distributors have said that they will, in coordination with Oman’s customs department, clamp down on the availability of illegal set top boxes (STBs) of Indian direct to home (DTH) operators.

Even though Indian DTH operators do not have the licence to provide services in Oman many electronic retailers sell banned decoding receiversthat allow consumers to watch Indian TV channels at a very low price.

The illegal use of Indian DTH services in Oman has been causing a huge loss to OSN, which pays millions of dollars to content providers but is not able to monetise the content due to piracy.

“It has been recently noticed that a number of activities and on a wide range are seen from shops that sell satellite receivers, where the ownersof the shops introduce some illegal satellite receivers as legal devices, whereas they contain all the rights of Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) legal channels in terms of content and programs. These devices are branded as Dish TV, Airtel, Tata Sky and other similar devices,” OSN distributors have said in a statement.

It further stated that these devices are prohibited to sell and trade within the sultanate and the rights are granted only to the OSN. “The ownersof the shops enter these devices to the territory of the Sultanate and trade in with the devices without abiding the laws and without registering with any named agency,” the statement added.

The statement also noted that the illegal usage of Indian DTH services is contrary to the provisions of the intellectual property laws, especially the Industrial Property Rights Law issued by the Royal Decree 27/2008, supported with the provisions of the GCC Trademarks Law issued by Royal Decree 33/2017 and the Law of Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights issued by Royal Decree 65/2008, and other related laws, necessary actions will be taken towards the violators.

“The trade of illegal devices has caused severe damage to OSN within the sultanate as the official agents of OSN channels pay millions of riyals a year to obtain commercial agency rights and OSN pays millions of dollars to obtain broadcasting rights within the GCC. These acts in term strongly impact on the state economy directly,” the statement read.

The official distributors of OSN channels asserted that they follow up the complaint with the competent authorities regarding the violators until the necessary actions are taken.

“Necessary procedures, in coordination with the Directorate General of Customs, will prevent the entry of receivers with the brand names (Dish TV, Airtel, and Tata Sky) through all commercial channels at all outlets and will prevent the permit for re-exportation,” the statement noted.