Internet piracy results in annual losses of over €0.7 billion to Poland’s GDP, according to Anna Sloboda, VP of the management board, Sygnal Association.
Speaking at the International Content Protection Summit 2018 in Warsaw and quoting figures from 2016, she added that the losses to the treasury amounted to €195 million and cost 27,700 jobs, which would eliminate unemployment in a city such as Lodz.
Sloboda stressed the huge scale of social acceptance of piracy in Poland, with every other internet user aged 15-75 in Poland now accessing illegal content sources related to the studied markets. The estimated spend on illegal content amounts to €210 million a year and €7 billion is the estimated total value of illegal content consumption from illegal sources on the internet in the period 2017-2024.
Sloboda also outlined the activities and achievements of Sygnal, including close cooperation with law enforcement agencies. In addition, the association runs a highly effective ‘Follow the money’ programme to cut off all sources of financial revenue to infringing websites and provide tools which help to spend ad budgets only on legal websites.
While there is no single solution to online piracy, Sygnal believes education and dialogue with key stakeholders are pivotal factors.
