6 Philippine Showbiz Today
6 Philippine Showbiz Today
March 8 - 21 , 2017 Jan . 22-Feb . 7 , 2015
Owners and operators of a factory in Shenzhen China illegally programming pirate IPTV boxes to stream ABS-CBN and other pirated content raided by Shenzhen Police and fully shut down ; Alan Zhou , Roland Lu , and 2 senior programmers arrested , in custody and facing 7-year jail time in China
SHENZEN , GUANGDONG , CHINA – Alan Zhou and Roland Lu , the owners and operators of Shenzhen Welnavi Technology Co ., LTD (“ Shenzhen Welnavi ”) factory in Shenzhen , China , who police determined illegally programmed pirate IPTV boxes in Shenzhen and marketed and sold them around the world under the “ Filstream ” brand , were arrested and charged with copyright infringement by the Shenzhen Police on Wednesday , local time in Shenzhen , Guangdong , China . Two senior programmers at the factory were also arrested and charged in connection with the matter . All those arrested are expected to remain in custody pending trial which is likely to take place next year . The Shenzhen police team conducted a raid of Shenzhen Welnavi on February 28 , 2017 and the company ’ s servers and business records were seized as part of the police team ’ s criminal investigation of the illegal distribution network .
The arrests in China were the culmination of an eight-month long worldwide i n v e s t i g a t i o n s p e a r h e a d e d by the Philippine media and entertainment network ABS-CBN . To date , the investigation has resulted in the arrest and seizure of Filstream box distributors in Illinois and Florida . The criminal arrest and prosecution of additional distributors in multiple locations around the United States and Canada is ongoing and expected within the coming weeks .
Arrested together with Zhou were Roland Lu and
1 - Cassandra Ponti ( 1982 ) 1 - Ang Kiukok † ( 1931 ) 2 - Gabby Eigenmann ( 1978 ) 2 - Strike Revilla ( 1970 ) 2 - Asi Taulava ( 1973 ) 2 - Nadine Samonte ( 1988 ) 2 - Hector Calma ( 1960 ) 3 - Rudy Fernandez † ( 1952 ) 4 - Haydee Yorac † ( 1941 ) 5 - Efren Peñaflorida ( 1981 ) 5 - Jay Ilagan † ( 1953 ) 7 - Gwen Garci ( 1987 ) 7 - Rica Peralejo ( 1981 ) 7 - Gerald Anderson ( 1989 ) 8 - Robert Jaworski ( 1946 ) 8 - Ramon Revilla , Sr . ( 1927 ) 9 - Isabel Granada ( 1976 )
Filstream pirated box kingpins arrested by Shenzen police in China
two programmers , who were all charged with copyright infringement with a maximum penalty of seven years in jail . Zhou , Lu and the two programmers , are expected to stay in jail until trial which is to begin in about a year . Shenzhen Welnavi has been fully shut down .
“ Piracy is a cancer in the content industry ”
According to ABS-CBN ’ s AVP & Head of Global Anti- Piracy Elisha Lawrence , “ The police have determined that Alan Zhou and Roland Lu ran a global piracy operation with the intent to interfere with ABS- CBN ’ s legitimate business . ABS- CBN / TFC distributes its content through cable providers , its own TFC IPTV boxes , as well as via digitally on tfc . tv . Alan Zhou and Roland Lu have disrupted ABS- CBN ’ s legitimate business . In addition , Filstream ’ s distributors contacted ABS-CBN ’ s distributors throughout the US , Canada , Australia and Europe , soliciting them to be Filstream ’ s distributors . They contacted customers of ABS-CBN offering their boxes in lieu of ABS-CBN ’ s legitimate IPTV boxes . They blatantly confused customers by using ABS-CBN ’ s registered trademarks and logos on their websites and social media sites . Alan Zhou and Roland Lu ’ s actions were despicable .”
Lawrence revealed also that ABS-CBN plans to continue to initiate and enforce criminal and civil actions against anyone who steals its movies and TV shows and offers them via IPTV box , free websites or on Youtube , Daily Motion and Facebook .
“ ABS-CBN spends millions of dollars each year producing these TV shows and movies and we will not allow these pirates to give them away for free ,” Lawrence explained .
Lawrence had harsh words for Zhou and Lu . “ Pirates are
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Celebrity Birthdays for March
9 - Jose P . Laurel † ( 1891 ) 9 - Rosemarie Gil ( 1942 ) 10 - Jojo Lastimosa ( 1964 ) 10 - JC De Vera ( 1986 ) 11 - Jose Mari Chan ( 1945 ) 11 - Bianca Gonzalez ( 1983 ) 12 - Lito Camo ( 1972 ) 12 - Sid Lucero ( 1981 ) 13 - Leopoldo Salcedo † ( 1912 ) 14 - Rico Yan † ( 1975 ) 14 - Gregorio Honasan ( 1948 ) 15 - Maggie Wilson ( 1989 ) 15 - Jolo Revilla ( 1988 ) 15 - Bienvenido Nebres ( 1940 ) 16 - Ruben Gonzaga ( 1982 ) 16 - Ronnie Lazaro ( 1953 ) 16 - Jacklyn Jose ( 1964 )
Photos of the illegal Filstream IPTV boxes found at the Shenzhen Welnavi office in China owned by Alan Zhou and Roland Lu . These are distributed in U . S ., Canada and other countries . ( BOTTOM ) Photos of the offices of Shenzhen Welnavi in Shenzhen , one of the five largest and wealthiest cities in China .
The entrance to the building housing the Shenzhen Welnavi office in Shenzhen ; below , a fake printed promo flyer targetting unsuspecting victims in the U . S . and Canada
16 - Kuh Ledesma ( 1955 ) 16 - Aubrey Miles ( 1982 ) 17 - Dely Atay-Atayan † ( 1914 ) 17 - Gretchen Barretto ( 1969 ) 17 - Cardinal Sanchez † ( 1920 ) 17 - Paolo Bediones ( 1974 ) 17 - Rico Blanco ( 1973 ) 18 - Celeste Legaspi ( 1950 ) 18 - Fidel V . Ramos ( 1928 ) 19 - Yeng Guiao ( 1959 ) 20 - Boy Alano ( 1944 ) 21 - Joyce Jimenez ( 1978 ) 21 - Rocco Nacino ( 1987 ) 21 - Jaya ( 1969 ) 22 - Emilio Aguinaldo † ( 1869 ) 22 - Pia Cayetano ( 1966 ) 23 - Ricky Davao ( 1961 )
24 - Aljur Abrenica ( 1990 ) 24 - RJ Rosales † ( 1974 ) 25 - Flash Elorde † ( 1935 ) 26 - Kathryn Bernardo ( 1996 ) 26 - Matteo Guidicelli ( 1989 ) 27 - Jessica Soho ( 1964 ) 27 - Halina Perez ( 1983 ) 27 - Liezl Martinez † ( 1967 ) 28 - Dion Ignacio ( 1986 ) 28 - Rodrigo Duterte ( 1945 ) 28 - Vic Vargas † ( 1939 ) 28 - Thou Reyes ( 1985 ) 29 - Ted Failon ( 1962 ) 30 - Enrique Gil ( 1992 ) 31 - Vice Ganda ( 1976 ) ●