Netflix Takes Full Advantage of Thailand’s New Anti-Piracy Agency Named COPTICS

• Netflix became one of the first companies to file a copyright complaint with newly formed anti-piracy outfit COPTICS.
• COPTICS is based in Thailand and is a partnership between the Thai police and the country's Intellectual Property Department.
• Websites that receive copyright complaints are blocked within days from receiving the complaint.

Netflix has been one of the major companies in the TV business that appeared not to be too concerned about piracy of its content, unlike other major players. However, that seems to have changed with the streaming giant submitting a copyright complaint with COPTICS.

COPTICS was formed very recently and is the result of a partnership between Thailand’s Intellectual Property Department and the local police. Netflix along with Mono 29 and Cineplex became the first three companies to file copyright complaints with the organization.

Unlike other anti-piracy organizations that may take up to weeks to resolve copyright complaints by taking down websites and infringing content from the Internet, COPTICS promises to be far more efficient and has promised a turnaround time of just a few days.

With Netflix predicted to have more than 540,000 subscribers in Thailand by 2020, and billions of dollars being invested in the streaming service’s content, it is high time for the company to take piracy seriously. COPTICS is currently headquartered under the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and will be working with Netflix to resolve the company’s copyright complaints.

An official statement filed by the NBTC reads “During a press conference marking the launch of the Center of Operational Policing for Thailand Against Intellectual Property Violations and Crimes on the Internet Suppression (COPTICS), it was noted that the current procedure (which can sometimes take more than six months from initial complaint through to a court issuing a blocking order) is considered inadequate.”

COPTICS works through a very systematic process. All copyright complaints are directed to the local police and transferred to the NBTC (the governing body of COPTICS). Within a few days from receiving a complaint, local ISPs are directed to block all website URLs that host the infringing content. After blocks are in place, NBTC will implement proceedings against website owners hosting infringing content.

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