In a move that further extends access to AAPA members’ expertise in investigating, and taking enforcement action against, audiovisual piracy, the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has joined the Europol Platform of Experts (EPE). Joining the EPE will also facilitate information sharing and collaboration with other private and public sector stakeholders.

The EPE is a secure web platform, which enables the sharing of best practices, documentation, innovation, knowledge and non-personal data on crime. Users can interact and collaborate with each other in virtual communities. Each community comes with a set of tools for content management (blogs, forum, etc.) and communication (private messaging, instant messaging, etc.).

AAPA joins more than 30 online communities on the EPE with a wide range of expertise in areas covering Intellectual Property Crime, Digital Forensics & Investigations, EU Cybercrime Task Force, EEGITC (European Expert Group on IT Crime – INTERPOL), Advisory Group on Internet Security, and Strategic Analysis. The EPE has more than 6,000 registered users from more than 70 countries.

Sheila Cassells, Executive Director of AAPA, described the EPE as a “valuable tool” which would help AAPA and its members to share their knowledge and expertise in fighting audiovisual piracy and would allow other stakeholders to benefit from that. “Importantly the EPE provides a framework in which synergies can be found with other affected sectors. It is quite likely that apparently different industries are targeted by similar pirate communities,” she added.

“We are pleased to have AAPA join the EPE online community,” commented Chris Vansteenkiste, Cluster Manager Counterfeiting, Europol. “Audiovisual piracy is a complex international crime which occurs in the online world. Successful enforcement requires collaboration amongst private and public stakeholders through mechanisms such as the EPE,” he stated.

Categories: Articles, Piracy