Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo speaks to reporters during the Kuala Lumpur Digital Content Anti-Piracy Summit in Putrajaya February 14, 2019. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

SERDANG, Feb 14 — Minister Gobind Singh Deo said today that Putrajaya is considering uniting all the different agencies in charge of tackling content piracy under one ministry, in a bid to expedite enforcement against offenders.

The communications and multimedia minister said as it is, numerous agencies are tasked with handling the matter, and as a result, victims and complainants ended up being bounced from one place to another.

“One of the suggestions is for us in my ministry to try discussing how those agencies can be brought together under one ministry.

“It is so that the agency can immediately take action as soon as a complaint is lodged,” he told reporters after the Kuala Lumpur Digital Content Anti-Piracy Summit here.

Gobind said it is important to enact harsher punishment for such offences.

He also clarified that laws needed to be amended first before Putrajaya embarks on blocking public access to websites that stream content illegally.

Datuk Yusof Haslam speaks during the Kuala Lumpur Digital Content Anti-Piracy Summit Forum Session in Putrajaya February 14, 2019. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

Earlier, in a forum joined by Gobind, renowned film director Datuk Yusof Haslam furiously complained about the lack and pace of enforcement against content pirates over the four decades that he has been involved in the entertainment industry.

“We just talk a lot but do not enforce this. As long as this culture persists, we will never solve this problem,” said Yusof.

Yusof said he has faced all forms of piracy, with the worst impacting his 2013 action film KL Gangster 2 that was leaked to the public 40 days before it hit the screens.

The forum on the landscape of digital piracy and an overview of the issues here also included Vivek Couto, the executive director of Media Partners Asia, content provider Astro’s Datuk Khairul Anwar Salleh, film director Adrian Teh and actor Lisa Surihani.

Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba speaks during the Kuala Lumpur Digital Content Anti-Piracy Summit Forum Session in Putrajaya February 14, 2019. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

During the question and answer session, fellow film director and producer Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba also urged for content intellectual property to come under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

“It’s currently under a different ministry that is concerned with domestic consumerism Very far away from intellectual property,” she said.

The inaugural summit today was organised by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), in collaboration with the Coalition Against Piracy and the Asia Video Industry Association.

It was supported by local content industry including Astro, Media Prima Bhd, dimsum, and iflix.