IT firms joins battle against piracy
In the hope of fighting against film and DVD piracy, IT hardware manufacturer SNA Technology is joining forces with leading home-entertainment distributors and local production houses to kick off the "SNA@Home Video Rental" service using the SNA smart box
The move is supported by the Cultural Ministry, Commerce Ministry’s Intellectual Property Department, Thai Entertainment Industry Association and Software Industry Promotion Agency.
As the manufacturer and trader of the smart box, SNA Technology spent about Bt10 million on hardware and software development, managing director Somsak Limchaeonkij said yesterday.
When the smart box and online video rental service are formally launched next month, customers can download up to 300 drama series, movies, music videos and short films with this wireless smart device running on the Android operating system.
Customers can also choose pay-on-demand services for about Bt10-Bt30 a programme. Those programmes will expire three days after they are downloaded.
The programmes are copyrighted by leading home-entertainment distributors, including United Home Entertainment and EVS Entertainment as well as other independent film production houses.
SNA Technology will split the profits evenly with those film distributors.
The company expects to realise Bt50 million in revenue from sales of 6,000 boxes and payments per download in its first year of operation. Pay-on-demand services would contribute Bt43.2 million while the rest is from boxes.
The firm also projects doubling of revenue to Bt100 million next year with contributions from finished IT components and hardware.
Sales of smart boxes and profit-sharing with film distributors will be 30-40 per cent of total revenue.
Niti Thavornvanit, managing director of United Home Entertainment, said the company has to wait and see the feedback first as this new service was still in the trial phase. But he believes that the home-video business will enjoy a 10-per-cent growth this year while his company will see at least a 15-per-cent surge.
Seksan Sununkhingphet, president of EVS Entertainment, said this new service would support film and DVD distributors in their fight against pirated products, which cost businesses about half of the total market worth Bt10 billion.
