Broadcasting giant ABS-CBN scored a victory over alleged pirate site KissAsian. It was a default judgement since representatives from KissAsian did not show up.
The Florida court where the case was filed ordered KissAsian to pay a total of $1,810,000 in damages. It also allowed ABS-CBN to gain compete control over the domain name kissasian.com.
Alleged Piracy
In its complaint, ABS-CBN accused KissAsian of streaming its TV shows without permission. It’s using trademarks and copyrighted properties to gain more visitors and eventually, more revenue.
The site is also known to stream TV shows from other countries such as South Korea, China and Japan.
Lost Earnings
ABS-CBN has its iWant TV service to monetize its TV shows online. The company has also introduced the KBO digital TV receiver as another source of revenue aside from the traditional analog TV broadcast.
The company claims that the activity of KissAsian and other pirate sites resulted in massive loss of earnings.
KissAsian Lives On
Despite the unfavorable ruling, KissAsian isn’t ceasing operations. It has already transferred to a new domain with the same functions and features.
ABS-CBN TV shows are no longer streamed on the site though.
