SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 21, 2021 – ABS-CBN, a leading global Filipino media and entertainment company, filed a USD 40-million lawsuit titled ABS-CBN v. 123Fullpinoymovieshub.com, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against 40 pirate domains pirating ABS-CBN’s content and infringing its copyrights and trademarks.
The Court recently issued a preliminary injunction against these 40 pirate domains to take down the domains with a serving notice. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is the Federal United States District Court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of Florida state.
The lawsuit comes as news reports show piracy has made a comeback during the COVID-19 pandemic. TVtechnology.com reported that media companies are dealing with piracy in the age of COVID. The lockdowns resulted in more breaches of streaming security result in higher demand. Criminals were isolated at home and likely had more time and inclination to devote to nefarious activities.
“Beware of pirate domains, especially clicking on them. They usually contain malware which can substantially infect your computer,” said Elisha Lawrence, Assistant Vice President & Head of Global Anti-Piracy.
“Watch our content on safe, legitimate services such as ABS-CBN’s OTT platform iWantTFC and the TFC channel on all major cable and satellite providers.
“We see it as our job to protect the consumer from the dangers that pirated content brings and, at the same time, provide quality content for their enjoyment,” said ABS-CBN Managing Director of North and Latin America Jun Del Rosario.
Stephen M. Gaffigan and Christine Daley of Law Offices of Stephen M. Gaffigan, PA, represented ABS-CBN.
