One of the recurring themes in the just-concluded Enter Media 2001 conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in Mumbai was the issue of piracy.

That the problem is a pan-Asian one was elucidated by Zee Networks group broadcasting CEO Sandeep Goyal, who referred to the easy availability of the latest Indian films on cable even in a developed market like Japan.

At a regional level, the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has taken up the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in Thailand to domestic regulators the public relations department of the Prime Minister‘s Office (PRO) and the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand (MCOT).

Senior Casbaa officials met with the directors-general of the PRD and MCOT at the conclusion of a Casbaa Roundtable on Pay TV Piracy in Asia on 3 August in Bangkok and requested that the PRD and MCOT play a more active role in combating pay TV piracy in the Thai market.

Both MCOT and the PRD, as well as the Royal Thai Police, expressed a clear willingness to tackle the problem during the roundtable.

"We believe there may be as many as 150,000 pay TV households in Thailand that are not paying the rights owners for the channels they are viewing. Of course, this also damages the viability of the legitimate operators," said Simon Twiston Davies, the executive director of Casbaa."

According to Twiston Davies, one remedy on the pay TV front could be as simple as adding a clause to annual licensing conditions insisting that local cable operators provide proof that they hold legally binding contracts to distribute individual channels. If a cable operator were unable to demonstrate a contractual relationship with rights owners, it would not have its license renewed.

Twiston Davies noted that creative industries in markets as diverse as Hong Kong and India have been almost devastated by IPR piracy in recent years and Thailand could also be under threat. He added that Thailand remains on the US Trade Representative‘s 301 Watch List for piracy activities and that upcoming World Trade Organisation negotiations are expected to increasingly focus on IPR matters.

The Casbaa Roundtable on Pay-TV Piracy covered case studies from regional pay-TV operators, technology specialists and rights holders who outlined their views on the scale of the problem in Asia and potential action points.

Among those exchanging views during the day-long roundtable were representatives from AOL Time Warner, Star Group, Discovery Channel, Turner Broadcasting, Hong Kong Cable, UBC, Astro, Irdeto Access, NDS and the Motion Picture Association.

In recent months pay-TV piracy has been forced up the Casbaa agenda as the problem has escalated in the jurisdictions of Hong Kong, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

In the coming months Casbaa will be taking its concerns on these issues to governments at several levels as well as, on occasion, representing the interests of the industry in legal actions.

Watch out Femina Miss India, there is competition on the horizon. The Zee Network has announced plans to foray into one as yet unexplored arena - the Teen Queen Pageant - aimed at youth, the core demographic group where the craze of beauty pageants rages the most.

Organised for the first time in India, Zee‘s Teen Queen pageant will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New Delhi on Sunday, 12 August, 2001.

The event plans to unfold in three stages over the next year, according to a company release. In the second stage, scheduled for October this year, an India World Teen Queen will be chosen from amongst contestants of Indian origin from 24 countries where there is a substantial NRI population. The final stage will see the World Teen Queen pageant being staged on a world canvas with representatives from the various countries participating.

"At Zee today, we are strongly focused on youth related initiatives and the India Teen Queen contest is in keeping with that focus. As a satellite television channel spanning 15 channels, and with a presence in 80 countries, we have a constant requirement for new talent. The India Teen Queen in its various avatars will help us to identify and nurture talent from across the world," says group broadcasting CEO Sandeep Goyal.

The India Teen Queen is being developed as an exclusive and unique property, says the release. Zee Network has already started receiving requests to host the forthcoming India World Teen Queen Pageant from Canada, United Kingdom and United States of America, the release adds.

Pantene is sponsoring the inaugural event. Twenty-two teens between the ages of 17 and 19 from across India are expected to participate in five separate rounds. The first round is the Body Fit round, followed by a Talent (VeeJay) round, a Trendy Hair round and an Attire round.

The final round will be an audio-visual round where the contestants will be posed questions by the panel of judges consisting of cine star Neena Gupta, designer Rocky S, actress Rinkee Khanna, musician L. Subramanium, and Maruti Udyog‘s Japanese Director, J. Sugimori.

National broadcaster Doordarshan has invited fresh sealed tenders to market and distribute DD-World and DD-News channel in the UK and rest of Europe on the DTH platform and cable networks.

The national broadcaster has set 28 August as the deadline by which the tenders should reach the Controller of Programmes, DD-World Channel. These will then be opened on 29 August at 3.00 PM, Doordardshan Bhawan, New Delhi, in the presence of the representatives of the parties.

The applicant whose tender is accepted will have to sign an agreement with Doordarshan within 30 days of receiving the award letter, failing which the next highest bidder will be awarded the contract.

According to the tender document, both the channels DD-World and DD-News are transmitted as digital multiplex in the compressed mode through the PAS-4 satellite (currently in the process of switching to PAS-10, the process is expected to be complete by end-August). The signals of these channels are downlinked in London by British Telecom. DD-World and DD-News transmission can be encrypted at Delhi end for uplink to PAS-4.

Meanwhile, the programme composition of DD-World as per the Fixed Point Chart (FPC) are: Entertainment / Feature Films/ Film based programmes / Serials / Music and Dance / Cookery shows / Travelogues / Documentaries / Children‘s programmes / Women programmes / News & Current Affairs, etc.

And for DD-News: News / Current Affairs / Documentaries.

As per the tender document available on www.ddindia.net, the prospective bidder will have to pay a non-refundable processing fee of ?250 and an earnest money deposit of ?1000 in the form of a crossed bank draft drawn in favour of PBBCI, Directorate General, Doordarshan, New Delhi, payable at any bank in New Delhi. (Indian parties can pay the fee in Indian Rupees equivalent to pound Sterling).

The bidder will also have to submit an audited account indicating its turnover for the past three years. Foreign parties can obtain more details from Indian High Commission in UK. Indian Parties can obtain such details from Doordarshan Kendra, Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. The tender documents can be downloaded Doordarshan‘s website at http://www.ddindia.net.